Qatar's mediation to release the servicemen abducted by Islamist gunmen have intensified in recent days, reported the daily al-Mustaqbal on Saturday.

General Security chief Abbas Ibrahim has meanwhile expressed his satisfaction with the course of the negotiations, official sources told the daily.

U.S. President Barack Obama will host the Emir of Qatar Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani at the White House on February 24, officials said Friday.

"The President looks forward to discussing with Sheikh Tamim political, economic, and security issues of mutual concern to our two countries," the White House said in a statement. 

Qatar has informed General Security chief Maj. Gen. Abbas Ibrahim that they have reached a breakthrough in the case of the Lebanese servicemen taken hostage by jihadists, As Safir daily reported on Friday.

The newspaper said Ibrahim traveled to Doha recently after Qatari officials told him that they reached a partial deal with al-Qaida-linked al-Nusra Front.

The U.S. and the Taliban central spokesman Thursday denied plans to hold peace talks in Qatar, contradicting earlier claims by militant leaders that contacts would resume in the Gulf state within weeks.

The denials came after multiple commanders said five former members of the Taliban supreme council would soon restart contacts with U.S. officials in Qatar to try to get peace talks on track after more than 13 years of war in Afghanistan.

Qatar said Thursday it will introduce a major labor law reform to ensure thousands of workers building venues for the 2022 World Cup are paid on time, after complaints by rights groups.

The changes by the future hosts of football's biggest tournament, approved by Qatar's Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al Thani, will see workers get paid at least once a month and in some cases every fortnight. 

Gulf Arab states threw their support behind Qatar Thursday in a row with Egypt, which accused Doha of backing "terrorism" during heated discussions about Cairo's air strikes on jihadists in Libya.

Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) secretary general Abdullatif al-Zayani said in a statement he "rejects accusations by Egypt's permanent envoy at the Arab League that Qatar supports terrorism".

Qatari Foreign Minister Khaled al-Attiyah lashed out at Hizbullah on Thursday, stressing that the Gulf state is in a rift with the party.

“Hizbullah went back to the Syrians who welcomed it (in July 2006 war with Israel) to kill and displace them,” al-Attiyah said in an interview with the pan-Arab daily al-Hayat.

Qatar will likely renew its mediation with al-Qaida-linked al-Nusra Front on the case of Lebanese soldiers and policemen taken captive by jihadists last year, al-Joumhouria newspaper reported on Thursday.

Qatar said in December that it suspended its negotiations with the militants after its envoy failed to resolve the crisis.

Qatar recalled its ambassador to Egypt Thursday following a row over Cairo's air strikes on jihadist targets in Libya, threatening fresh divisions among Western-allied Arab states.

A foreign ministry official said Doha was recalling its envoy for consultation after Egypt's delegate to the Arab League accused Qatar of supporting "terrorism", during discussions on Libya.

Saudi Arabia's King Salman held talks in Riyadh Tuesday with Qatar's emir, in what an analyst sees as part of a regional effort to strengthen ties against the Islamic State (IS) group.

Qatar's Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani is the latest Gulf leader to visit Riyadh this week, after Abu Dhabi Crown Prince Mohamed bin Zayed al-Nahyan and Sheikh Sabah al-Ahmad al-Sabah, the emir of Kuwait.