"Qatari State Minister for Foreign Affairs Soltan Al-Muraikhi arrived in Riyadh at the head of Qatar's delegation to attend the summit of the cooperation council [GCC]," AlRumaihi said via his official Twitter feed.
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The state minister has no portfolio, meaning that he is not responsible for any particular area of the Qatari government's activities, performing mainly representational functions on the part of the Qatari government.
The Qatari emir did attend last year's GCC meeting in Kuwait as well, although Al-Thani and Kuwait's emir, Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah, were the only heads of state present at the event, with the other four GCC member countries — Bahrain, Oman, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates — sending low-level representatives.
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.
Doha, in turn, has denied the allegations and criticized the restrictive measures imposed against it.