DUBAI, Aug 30: United Arab Emirates (AP) — Though far-removed from the Gulf, East Africa has been shaken by the Arab diplomatic crisis gripping Qatar.

In recent years both Qatar and the other energy-rich nations arrayed against it have made inroads in the Horn of Africa by establishing military bases, managing ports and showering friendly nations with foreign aid.

As the rivalry heats up, with Saudi Arabia, Egypt, the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain seeking to isolate Qatar, East African nations stand to gain or lose from an increasingly fierce competition for influence. And with Saudi Arabia and its allies mired in a war just across the Red Sea in Yemen, the area has never had more strategic value.

“I think we’re seeing a game of geopolitical chess being played out,” said Kristian Coates Ulrichsen, a research fellow at the James A. Baker III Institute for Public Policy at Rice University.

MILITARY EXPANSION

The importance of the Horn of Africa to Gulf nations can be seen with just a glance at a map. The Horn’s shoreline comes as close as 30 kilometers (18.5 miles) to Yemen at the Bab el-Mandeb straight, a crucial chokepoint at sea for oil tankers heading from the Gulf to Europe.

For years, the shores of East Africa provided a crucial point for smugglers to reach Yemen, as well as a target-rich hunting ground for pirates. Securing the area has taken on new importance for Gulf countries since March 2015, when a Saudi-led coalition launched its war against Shiite rebels and their allies who hold Yemen’s capital.

Since the conflict began, the United Arab Emirates and others have established military bases in East Africa . In Eritrea, the UAE has a base at the port in Assab. Another Emirati military base will be built in Somalia’s breakaway northern territory of Somaliland.

“The UAE is very keen to show that it’s a provider of security, not just a consumer of security,” Ulrichsen said.

Saudi Arabia meanwhile has discussed putting its own base in tiny Djibouti, already home to an under-construction Chinese military base and a U.S. base that launches drone missions over Somalia and Yemen.

Analysts believe all these Gulf military installations will become permanent features in East Africa.

“They are not only just momentarily engaging in the Horn and its countries, but they are becoming long-term strategic actors in the whole region,” said Umer Karim, a researcher at the University of Birmingham.

JOCKEYING FOR POSITION IN SOMALIA

In Somalia, whose first civilian government after decades of lawlessness is fighting against the al-Qaida-linked al-Shabab militant group, Gulf countries loom large.

Saudi Arabia is the Somali government’s biggest benefactor, while the UAE has trained the country’s military and launched a high-profile aid appeal this year. Somalia has meanwhile allowed Qatari aircraft to increasingly fly through its airspace as Arab nations have closed theirs off.

Gulf states are believed to have taken sides in lawmakers’ February election of Somali President Mohamed Abdullahi Mohamed, which was marked by allegations of massive bribery. Mohamed appointed a former reporter of the Qatar-funded satellite news channel Al-Jazeera Arabic as his chief of staff. The UAE backed a different candidate.

Meanwhile, Turkey soon will open an overseas military base in Mogadishu. Its only other overseas base is in Qatar, which Ankara has backed amid the boycott.

“You couldn’t find any place more strategic for the Arab powers than Somalia,” said Rashid Abdi, the Horn of Africa project director for the International Crisis Group. “That explains the intensity of these powers’ interest in Somalia.”

BRINGING ERITREA OUT OF THE COLD

For Eritrea, the Qatar diplomatic dispute actually could be a good thing.

Ruled by an autocratic and repressive president, Eritrea has seen tens of thousands of its citizens flee mandatory national conscription that can last over a decade, something rights groups say amounts to slavery. The former Italian colony routinely ranks last among nations in personal and press freedom.

But when the Gulf crisis began, Qatar removed 400 peacekeepers from a disputed Red Sea island claimed by both Eritrea and Djibouti. Eritrea quickly sent its own troops in to seize it.

Meanwhile, Eritrea hosts the UAE military base at Assab while siding with the Saudi-led coalition fighting in Yemen. Eritrean leaders likely hope this improves their image.

“There’s no doubt that Eritrea is looking beyond the horizon and saying, ‘We are becoming rehabilitated, we are now a major player in the region, we are getting noticed and whatever the West thinks of us, at least our Arab neighbors are taking us serious,’” Abdi said. “That is a big psychological victory.”

AN INCREASINGLY NERVOUS ETHIOPIA

For Ethiopia, which fought wars against Somalia and Eritrea in the last 20 years, the ongoing Gulf crisis adds new uncertainty. The country maintains one of the region’s strongest militaries, but sees itself as being hemmed in by foreign military bases.

Ethiopia has struggled to remain neutral in the dispute. In July, Ethiopian Prime Minister Hailemariam Desalegn even acknowledged his concerns in a speech before parliament.

“Ethiopia could be affected in the event of a regional destabilization,” he said.

An empowered Eritrea may push back against Ethiopian gains in their costly war, which killed tens of thousands of people. Nearly all of landlocked Ethiopia’s foreign trade passes through the port at Djibouti, now run by Dubai’s DP World. Egypt, part of the Arab nations now boycotting Qatar, remains worried about a new giant dam in Ethiopia cutting into its share of the Nile.

“The rift in the (Gulf) and the Saudi-led camp, and the acts of the UAE to become not only a port management power but also a military power in the greater Horn of Africa, poses a threat to Ethiopia,” political analyst Mehari Tadele said. AP

DUBAI, July 23: A top official in the Arab bloc isolating Qatar says the Gulf state needs to change its policies as part of any direct negotiations to resolve the crisis.

Qatari Emir Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani said late Friday that Qatar is prepared to talk with the four countries lined up against it, but that any resolution must respect its sovereignty and the terms cannot be dictated from outside.

United Arab Emirates Minister of State for Foreign Relations Anwar al-Gargash responded in a Twitter post late Saturday that dialogue is necessary, but that Qatar must review its policies since repeating its previous positions only “deepens the crisis.”

Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Egypt and Bahrain cut ties and transport links with Qatar in early June.-AP

DOHA, July 12: It’s been more than a month since four Arab nations cut land, sea and air routes to Qatar, but in the gas-rich Gulf nation’s glimmering malls and luxury hotels there is little sign of hardship.

High-end clothing stores hawk the latest summer trends. Grocery stores are brimming with meats and cheeses from Europe and Turkey, and just last month the country’s main port received 4,300 cars and sheep from Australia.

Luxury hotels like the W and St. Regis serve lavish meals around the clock and alcohol flows for visitors. Famous Barcelona soccer players Gerard Pique, Sergio Busquets and Jordi Alba met with fans last week at a mall in the capital, Doha, which will host the 2022 World Cup tournament.

“We don’t feel any difference. It’s a celebration everywhere,” Qatari Badr Jeran said as he shopped at the mall.

Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, the United Arab Emirates and Egypt moved to isolate Qatar in early June, severing diplomatic ties and closing off their air space and shipping lanes over Doha’s support for Islamist groups across the region, many of which are viewed as terror groups by its rivals. Qatar denies supporting extremism and has condemned the closures as an attack on its sovereignty.

Worried residents rushed to grocery stores, emptying shelves of dairy products and other food imports after Saudi Arabia sealed Qatar’s only land border, but they were quickly restocked.

If the Arab nations intended to bring about a change in government, those hopes appear to have been dashed by an outpouring of popular support for Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, the 37-year-old emir. Signs on cars and billboards read “We are all Tamim. We are all Qatar”.

Here’s a look at how Qatar has weathered the crisis:

MONEY — LOTS OF IT

Shortly after the crisis began, a Twitter account called DohaUnderSiege began documenting life under the blockade. One post showed a fully stocked hotel buffet and said: “Breadlines have begun. Personally saw several middle-aged men at breakfast scuffling over the last baguette.”

The tongue-in-cheek posts point to the fact that Qatar is fantastically wealthy. It is one of the world’s richest nations per capita, making its citizens on average wealthier than even those in neighboring Gulf states.

Qatar has a population of around 2 million, but only a little more than a quarter-million are citizens, meaning the government has a lot of wealth it can spread around.

Qatar has some $340 billion in reserves. Around $40 billion of that is in cash plus gold, and $300 billion is in reserves with the Qatar Investment Authority, according to central bank governor Sheikh Abdullah Bin Saoud Al Thani. Qatar’s sovereign wealth fund has invested strategically over the years in international luxury brands and real estate in major cities like New York and London.

ENERGY

Qatar’s main source of revenue is its natural gas, which continues to flow uninterrupted. It is the world’s largest liquefied natural gas producer, which it ships on tankers around the world. An undersea pipeline provides gas to Oman and the UAE, which heavily relies on Qatar’s gas despite severing diplomatic ties.

The crisis has actually served as a “a good sort of trial run” for the Qataris to determine how to manage their economy in the face of such an event, said Noha Aboueldahab, a visiting fellow at the Brookings Doha Center think tank.

Costs have increased for the government because of the roundabout routes that need to be taken to fly or ship food and other goods into the country, but she says the added expense has yet to be felt by shoppers.

The government says it’s covering a ten-fold increase in shipping costs for food and medicine.

HELP FROM FRIENDS

Qatar’s ally Turkey and its neighbor Iran have quickly stepped in to fill any gaps, as has Morocco. Instead of carrying the Saudi Almarai dairy brand, the shelves are now stocked with milk and produce from Turkey.

One of the reasons cited for the Arab nations’ decision to cut ties was Qatar’s relations with Iran, with which it shares a massive undersea natural gas field. But here too, the blockade seems to have had the opposite effect. Iran’s kept its airspace open, allowing Qatar Airways and other airlines to circumvent the closures.

Past investments in desert agriculture have also helped head off any food crisis. Despite the sweltering, arid climate, farmers have found ways to grow organic produce like tomatoes, cucumbers, zucchini, eggplant and champignon mushrooms inside greenhouses.

NEW ROUTES

Since the Arab quartet’s June 5 blockade was announced, Qatar has launched five new shipping routes — two to Oman, two to India and one to Turkey.

Doha’s brand-new Hamad Port, south of the Qatari capital, is operating at “full capacity,” says the port’s director, Abdelaziz Nasser Al-Yafei. The facility, part of a $7.4 billion port infrastructure project, only began general cargo operations in October, and was fully up and running in early December.

Maersk Line, which had previously shipped much of its Qatar-bound cargo via Jebel Ali, has retooled its operations to keep Qatar supplied via Oman.

Hamad Port received 212 ships in June, with 24,000 containers, 4,300 cars, 61,000 livestock and 6,400 tons of construction materials. On one evening earlier this month, five large ships docking in Hamad Port unloaded sheep from Australia, food from Turkey and cars made in South Korea.

The peninsula-nation can also look to its national carrier to fly in goods. Qatar Airways, one of the region’s biggest airlines, operates 200 aircraft, including 21 cargo planes.