By Elishya Perera
MANAMA, Bahrain (CWBN)_Top Gulf Arab officials held a virtual meeting on Sunday (Dec 27), to bolster cooperation ahead of the Gulf Cooperation Council’s (GCC) annual summit next month.
According to sources, topping the agenda of the Summit which will be held in the Saudi capital Riyadh on January 5, will be the end of the dispute between a Saudi-led quartet and Qatar, which erupted in 2017.
This was confirmed on Sunday as Qatar’s foreign minister, Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al-Thani joined the foreign ministers of Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Oman and Kuwait at the meeting hosted by Manama.
In June 2017, Saudi Arabia led its allies the UAE, Bahrain and Egypt to cut ties with Qatar owing to its close relations with Iran and for funding radical Islamist movements, claims strongly denied by Doha. After severing ties, the countries issued a list of 13 demands for Qatar, including that it shut down its broadcaster Al Jazeera.
Earlier this month, Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan said a resolution was in sight, with a final agreement expected around the time of the Summit in January, with the four governments behind the roadblock on board. Subsequently, Egypt and the UAE have given their public support to the negotiations, although sources claim that the UAE has been reluctant to compromise. Meanwhile, on Wednesday (Dec 23) Manama also called for an “end to regional disputes”, toning down its stance on the Gulf crisis.
Accordingly, a statement issued by the Foreign Ministry of Kuwait noted that on Sunday, the GCC addressed “suggestions on supporting and strengthening joint Gulf cooperation in various political, economic and social aspects”.
