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Qatar Emir To Skip Riyadh Summit Dampening Hopes

  Qatar’s emir, Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thani, will not attend the Gulf summit in Riyadh, state media reported Tuesday, dampening hopes of a reconciliation … Continue reading Qatar Emir To Skip Riyadh Summit Dampening Hopes


(COMBO) This combination of pictures created on December 03, 2019 shows a handout picture provided by the Saudi Royal Palace of Saudi Arabia’s King Salman bin Abdulaziz (L) arriving to address the Shura council on on November 20, 2019 and Qatar’s Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thani (R) attending the opening session of the 30th Arab League summit in the Tunisian capital Tunis on March 31, 2019. Saudi King Salman has invited Qatar’s emir to a meeting next week of the Gulf regional bloc in Riyadh, Qatari state media said on December 3, 2019 , without specifying if Doha had accepted. The invitation to the December 10 summit of the six-nation Gulf Cooperation (GCC) comes amid signs of reduced animosity between Qatar and Saudi Arabia, which has led an economic boycott of Doha since 2017. FETHI BELAID, Bandar AL-JALOUD / POOL / Saudi Royal Palace / AFP
Saudi Arabia’s King Salman bin Abdulaziz        Qatar’s Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thani / AFP

 

Qatar’s emir, Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thani, will not attend the Gulf summit in Riyadh, state media reported Tuesday, dampening hopes of a reconciliation between Doha and a Saudi-led bloc.

Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Egypt cut all diplomatic and transport ties with Qatar in June 2017 over allegations it backs radical Islamists and seeks closer ties with Saudi arch rival Tehran.

Qatar vehemently denies the allegations.

The emir named Prime Minister Abdullah bin Nasser bin Khalifa Al-Thani to lead the Qatari delegation to Tuesday’s summit of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), the official QNA said.

Hopes of reconciliation were high after signs of a thaw between Qatar and its former allies.

Following Saudi King Salman’s invitation to the emir, Qatar’s foreign minister said there had been “some progress” in talks with Riyadh.

Some observers had said that the summit could pave the way for a “reconciliation conference”.

Others remained sceptical, saying he was only following protocol and had invited the Qatari leader to last year’s summit as well.

Qatar’s prime minister attended a series of talks in Saudi Arabia in May, one of the first high-level contacts of the two-year boycott.

Even before the Saudi-led blockade, relations had been rocky, in part because of Qatar-based broadcaster Al Jazeera’s critical coverage of the region’s affairs and Doha’s support for the Arab Spring uprisings of 2011.

The rift has seen the two sides trade barbs on everything from access to the Muslim holy city of Mecca to alleged Twitter hacking.

AFP