Tamim attends GCC summit amid objections

CAIRO – 13 October 2017: Qatari Emir Tamim bin Hammad announced he would participate in the upcoming Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) summit scheduled to be hold in December 10 and will be hosted by Saudi Arabia.

According to media reports, the Gulf rulers express their rejection to emir’s announcement, stressing that they can not accept the participation of a ruler who supports terrorism in their meeting.

The GCC, launched in 1981, comprises Bahrain, Kuwait, Qatar, Oman, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.

Its leaders hold an annual summit in their capitals on a rotational basis. They also hold an informal summit in May in the GCC headquarters in the Saudi capital Riyadh.

Since June 5, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates have cut their relation with Qatar and announced a complete boycott of the emirate for its support and sponsorship of terrorism.

Following the Arab boycott of Doha, a list of 13 demands was handed to Doha’s government by the boycotting quartet for reconciliation which includes the closing of Al-Jazeera broadcasting and the suspension of its relationship with the extremist government of Iran.

Since then, Qatar has resisted conciliation attempts, and has not shown any efforts in disassociating itself from the terrorist groups which the Gulf and its allies accuse Doha of harboring and sponsoring.