News / Persian Gulf

Qatari monarch receives Saudi Arabian King Salman’s invitation to [P]GCC summit

Wednesday, 05 December 2018 2:33 AM [ Last Update: Wednesday, 05 December 2018 2:57 AM ]

Qatari Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani arrives to take part in the Paris Peace Forum at the Villette Conference Hall in Paris, France, on November 11, 2018. (Photo by AFP)

Qatari Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani has received a written invitation from Saudi Arabia's King Salman to participate in the upcoming [Persian] Gulf Cooperation Council ([P]GCC) summit, which is set to take place in the Saudi capital city of Riyadh later this month.

The official Qatar News Agency said in a tweet the monarch had got “an invitation from the King of Saudi Arabia” for the meeting, but it did not say whether Sheikh Tamim would travel to Saudi Arabia.

HH the Amir received a written message from King of Saudi Arabia, inviting HH the Amir to attend the 39th Summit of the Supreme Council of the GCC that will be hosted by the Kingdom on December 9. pic.twitter.com/UJSrG4u3Ph
— Qatar News Agency (@QNAEnglish) December 4, 2018

The Arabic language Al Aan online newspaper, citing diplomatic sources, reported last week that Secretary General of the [Persian] Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) Abdul Latif bin Rashid al-Zayani was going to visit Doha to invite the Qatari emir to attend the the 39th annual summit of the regional grouping.

Last month, Kuwait’s Deputy Foreign Minister Khaled al-Jarallah confirmed that all six GCC countries would be attending the annual summit of the council, which is set to take place on December 9.

Jarallah said the summit could present a “hope to resolve the [Persian] Gulf crisis and solve the differences.”

PressTV-Qatar: Continuation of crisis reflects [P]GCC’s failure

Qatari Emir Sheikh Tamim Al Thani says the continuation of a dispute initiated by a Saudi-led quartet of Arab states with his country has weakened the [Persian] Gulf Cooperation Council.

The report came as a surprise since Saudi Arabia, along with the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain, has been embroiled in a diplomatic and trade boycott against Qatar for a year and a half.

Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Bahrain and Egypt all cut off diplomatic ties with Qatar on June 5 last year, after officially accusing it of “sponsoring terrorism.”

The administration of the Saudi-backed and former Yemeni president, Abd Rabbuh Mansur Hadi, Libya, the Maldives, Djibouti, Senegal and the Comoros later joined the camp in ending diplomatic ties with Doha. Jordan downgraded its diplomatic relations as well.

Qatar's Foreign Ministry later announced that the decision to cut diplomatic ties was unjustified and based on false claims and assumptions.

On June 9, 2017, Qatar strongly dismissed allegations of supporting terrorism after the Saudi regime and its allies blacklisted dozens of individuals and entities purportedly associated with Doha.

PressTV-Saudi Arabia, Egypt to maintain blockade on Qatar

Saudi Arabia and Egypt have jointly announced that they will maintain their ongoing diplomatic and trade blockade on Qatar.

Later that month, Saudi Arabia and its allies released a 13-point list of demands, including the closure of Al Jazeera television network and downgrade of relations with Iran, in return for the normalization of diplomatic relations with Doha.

The document containing the demands by Saudi Arabia, Egypt, the UAE and Bahrain also asked Qatar to sever all ties with the Muslim Brotherhood and the Lebanese Hezbollah resistance movement.

Qatar rejected the demands as "unreasonable."

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