Riyadh to host Gulf summit this week: Papers
Saudi Asharq Al-Awsat newspaper quoted a senior Kuwaiti official as saying that the Gulf leaders agreed to hold an extraordinary summit in Riyadh this week to clear the air before the bloc's ordinary summit, due in Qatar
By Ahmed al-Masri
DOHA
Saudi capital Riyadh would host a summit of Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) leaders this week in a bid to end a diplomatic rift between Qatar on one hand and Saudi Arabia, the UAE and Bahrain on the other, two Gulf newspapers reported Sunday.
Saudi Asharq Al-Awsat newspaper quoted a senior Kuwaiti official as saying that the Gulf leaders agreed to hold an extraordinary summit in Riyadh this week to clear the air before the bloc's ordinary summit, due in Qatar in December.
According to the source, Qatari Emir Tamim bin Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani would attend the Riyadh summit.
Kuwaiti Al-Qabas daily also quoted high-level diplomatic sources that preparations have been finalized to hold a "consultative" summit in Riyadh this week.
The reports came in the wake of a Gulf tour by Kuwaiti Emir Sheikh Sabah al-Ahmad al-Jaber al-Sabah, during which he visited Bahrain, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates.
Local media reports said the trip aimed at narrowing the gap between Qatar and the three Gulf nations that withdrew their ambassadors from Doha in March under the pretext that Qatar had violated a 2013 security pact and interfered in their domestic affairs.
Many observers, however, linked the rift to Doha's perceived support for ousted Egyptian president Mohamed Morsi and the latter's Muslim Brotherhood group, which remains the target of a relentless security crackdown by Egypt's military-backed authorities.
Saudi Arabia and the UAE were the first two Arab countries to welcome Morsi's ouster by the army last year following opposition protests.
Last December, the Egyptian authorities branded the Brotherhood a "terrorist" organization, with Saudi Arabia following suit in March.
