Qatar prime minister meets top German officials in Berlin

Nov 1, 2010, 19:22 GMT

Berlin - Qatar's prime minister, Sheikh Hamad bin Jassem bin Jabr al-Thani, met top-level German officials Monday in Berlin, but officials were silent about the topics of the discussions.

Chancellor Angela Merkel welcomed Sheikh Hamad at her office in the evening, and he was later invited to dinner by German President Christian Wulff at the president's palace, Schloss Bellevue.

A Qatari sovereign wealth fund has major investments in Germany, holding 17 per cent of carmaker Volkswagen and 10 per cent of Porsche, and in recent weeks there have been unconfirmed reports that Berlin has urged Qatar to buy into a construction group, Hochtief.

The Qataris have been frequent visitors to Berlin in recent weeks. The emir, Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa al-Thani, visited Berlin at the end of September and there have been unconfirmed news reports of a ministerial visit since that one.

The prime minister's visit coincided with a security flap over two unexploded parcel bombs sent from Yemen. Qatar Airways confirmed on Sunday that it had unsuspectingly shipped one of the parcels on two of its passenger planes.

News photographers were invited to see the prime minister's arrival, but no joint news conference was scheduled for the visit.

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