Saudi King Invites Qatar Emir to Visit Coop Council Amid Diplomatic Row - Report

19:04 GMT, 4 December 2018

CC BY-SA 4.0 / B.alotaby / Riyadh Skyline

MOSCOW (Sputnik) - Emir of Qatar Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani has received an invitation from Saudi King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud to attend a summit of the Gulf Cooperation Council on December 9 despite severed diplomatic ties, the state-run Qatar News Agency reported on Tuesday

Sputnik

"HH the Amir received a written message from King of Saudi Arabia, that invites 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," the agency said in its Twitter blog.

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The agency did not clarify whether the emir had accepted the invitation.

Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Bahrain severed relations with Qatar in June last year over its alleged support for terrorism. Yemen, the Maldives and Libya's eastern-based government later followed suit.

Last year, a two-day GCC summit ended within hours of its start in Kuwait without any progress being made on the Qatar diplomatic row. Leaders of Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Oman and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) refused to visit the summit because of their tense relations with Qatar. Instead the states were represented at the level of foreign or deputy prime ministers.

Qatar has been under a diplomatic and economic blockade since last June, when the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Egypt and Bahrain cut off diplomatic relations and communication with Doha, accusing it of supporting terrorism and interfering in their internal affairs. Qatar has refuted the allegations.