Saudi invitation to Qatar can’t solve Persian Gulf rift

Tense mood dominates Middle East summit.

RIYADH, SAUDI ARABIA — The invitation from Saudi Arabia’s King Salman to his Qatari counterpart to attend Sunday’s gathering of Persian Gulf monarchies, after 18 months as a regional pariah, wasn’t enough to build a bridge between the countries.

The invitation to the Gulf Cooperation Council’s meet- ing, rejected by Emir Tamim Bin Hamad Al Thani, came as Saudi Arabia sought to defuse pressure over the kill- ing of a vocal critic in Istanbul. Saudi Arabia’s leadership is also under pressure from the U.S. Congress to mend regional divisions and end its war in Yemen.

But the rifts that prompted the Saudi-led boycott of Qatar in June 2017 haven’t gone away. If anything, they’ve deepened.

“None of the parties to the dispute seem interested in a resolution or offering any significant concessions that could open a dialogue,” said Graham Griffiths, a senior analyst at the Control Risks consultancy in Dubai.

Qatar’s ties with Shiite power Iran have strength- ened, much to the dismay of the Sunni states that cited them when they initiated the embargo. Authorities in Doha, the Qatari capital, have brushed off accu- sations that they support terrorist groups, and have publicly done nothing to restrict the Al Jazeera tele- vision network.

A Qatari minister of state represented the country at the summit, with the del- egation seated between Kuwait and Oman, the only two members of the council with which Qatar doesn’t have a disagreement.

As the world’s biggest exporter of liquefied natu- ral gas, Qatar has deep pockets. Flourishing alternative trade routes mean its econ- omy is robust enough to cope with an extended stay in the cold. The emirate stunned the oil world last week by announcing plans to quit OPEC after 57 years.

The ink on King Salman’s invitation was barely dry when Bahrain’s foreign minister made it clear that Qatar’s attendance at the 39th GCC summit would have little effect on ending the standoff.

In an interview with a panArab newspaper, Sheikh Khalid Al Khalifa ques- tioned whether Qatar even belonged in the bloc, given its policies. “It’s irrelevant if Qatar is there or absent, no matter who the person is in Qatar’s seat, because the issue is too big to solve with love and kisses,” he said. Kuwait, Oman and the United Arab Emirates complete the grouping.

After landing in Riyadh for the summit, Sheikh Khalifa said on Twitter that it “would’ve been best if Qatar accepted the fair demands” and attended the summit.

The U.A.E., Bahrain and Egypt aligned with Saudi Arabia against Qatar. Kuwait and Oman have stayed neutral in the worst conflict the GCC has experienced since its founding in 1981.

The dispute has hindered American efforts to present a united front with regional allies against Iran. Washington’s early efforts to end the dispute faltered, but they were re-energized after the killing of Saudi government critic Jamal Khashoggi spotlighted on the policies of the kingdom’s crown prince, Mohammed bin Salman.

A bipartisan group of U.S. senators have said that a classified briefing from the CIA convinced them that the crown prince played a role in the killing, with one describing the evidence as “a smoking saw.” That was a reference to the bone saw that Turkish investigators say was used to dismember Khashoggi’s body. Saudi investigators deny a bone saw was used.

The result could be a push for American sanctions against its chief Gulf ally, including restricting U.S. support for the Saudi military campaign in Yemen.