Gulf rulers boycott GCC parley over Qatar
KUWAIT (Reuters) – Qatar’s emir said on Tuesday that he hoped a summit of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) in Kuwait would help maintain stability in the region, Al Jazeera TV said, though four Arab heads of state involved in a rift with Qatar stayed away.
Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Bahrain and Egypt, which have all imposed economic, diplomatic and trade sanctions on Qatar in a dispute that began in June, sent ministers or deputy prime ministers to the annual event instead.
Qatar’s Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani, who with Kuwait’s Emir Sheikh Sabah al-Ahmad al-Jaber al-Sabah were the only heads of state to attend the meeting, acknowledged that the summit took place in “highly sensitive circumstances” in the life of the GCC.
“I am full of hope that the summit will lead to results that will maintain the security of the Gulf and its stability,” Tamim said, according to the Dohabased Al Jazeera.
Sheik Sabah, opening the summit, called for a mechanism to be set up in the Western-backed grouping to resolve disputes among its members.
Relations within the Gulf have soured since the four Arab states accused Qatar of supporting terrorism. Qatar has denied the charges.
Kuwait, which had spearheaded unsuccessful mediation efforts since the rift began, had hoped the summit would provide an opportunity for leaders to meet face-to-face and discuss the crisis, according to two Gulf diplomats.
Earlier, the UAE said it would set up a bilateral cooperation committee with Saudi Arabia, separate from the GCC, on political, economic and military issues.
UAE president Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed al-Nahyan said the new committee would be chaired by Abu Dhabi Crown Prince Sheikh Muhammad bin Zayed al-Nahayan, state news agency WAM reported.
Saudi Arabia has not yet commented.
The proposal also coincides with an escalation in the conflict in Yemen, where both Saudi Arabia and the UAE are heavily involved. Former president of Yemen Ali Abdullah Saleh was killed in a roadside attack on Monday after switching sides in Yemen’s civil war, abandoning his Iran-aligned Houthi allies in favor of a Saudi-led coalition.