ABU DHABI - Dubai-based bank Mashreq MASB.DU is in Qatar for the long haul, chief executive Abdulaziz al-Ghurair told reporters on Wednesday.

He was speaking as a regional political dispute rages on between Qatar on the one hand and the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain and Egypt. Diplomatic and transport links between the UAE and Qatar have been cut, and many UAE portfolio investors and depositors have pulled their money out of Doha.

Mashreq was the first UAE lender to open an office in Qatar under its previous name, Bank of Oman.

(Reporting by Stanley Carvalho and Saeed Azhar; Writing by Tom Arnold; Editign by Andrew Torchia) ((Tom.Arnold@thomsonreuters.com; +97144536265; Reuters Messaging: tom.arnold.thomsonreuters.com@reuters.net))