Manama: The meeting of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) foreign ministers scheduled in the Qatari capital Doha today has been postponed for ten days.
The decision by the alliance made up of Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates to put the meeting off was taken following intense consultations between the member states in a bid to ensure its success in preparing for the GCC summit on December 9 in Doha, Kuwaiti daily Al Nahar reported on Monday, citing diplomatic sources it did not name.
Several of the member countries had requested the postponement until there is an agreement on all the pending issues, the sources added.
“The time will be used to deepen the consultations among the GCC capitals, especially that Kuwait is deploying extraordinary efforts to narrow gaps and bring views and opinions closer,” the sources said.
Last week, Kuwait’s Emir Shaikh Sabah Al Ahmad, whose country currently holds the rotating presidency of the Gulf loose alliance, visited Qatar, Bahrain and the UAE.
However, reports that surfaced before the weekend about a breakthrough in the GCC relations following Shaikh Sabah’s tour have not been officially confirmed and the decisions by two GCC countries to pull out of the 2015 men’s World Handball Championships in Qatar was the latest indication of the tension that persists within the GCC.
The diplomatic crisis, the worst since the GCC was established in 1981, became public in March when Bahrain, Saudi Arabia and the UAE recalled their ambassadors from Qatar to protest against Doha’s policies that they described as non-compatible with the general principles and goals of the GCC.
The three countries said Qatar interfered in their domestic affairs and supported groups that were hostile to them.
Doha, however, denied the claims and insisted on its commitment to the Gulf alliance. An accord was reached in April to work on overcoming the differences and an ad-hoc committee, made up of representatives from all the member states, was set up to monitor the situation.
Its work and reports have been kept secret despite the public claims and counterclaims about breakthroughs in the deadlock and the reinstatement of the ambassadors.
In case of non-agreement, the Doha summit could be postponed or the level of country representation could be lowered, reports said.
Oman’s foreign minister Yousuf Bin Alawi insisted on the need to go ahead with the summit.
“We as a regional international group must hold the summit at its venue and at the scheduled date despite our particular feelings because differences can be settled only through meetings and dialogues,” the minister said in an interview published by the London-based Al Sharq Al Awsat on Sunday.