Why Qatar’s Emir may not attend the Riyadh summit

Why Qatar’s Emir may not attend the Riyadh summit

In principle, the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) summit scheduled to take place in Saudi Arabia this week should end with a return to normal relations between its six-member states. That's why the invitation extended by Saudi Arabia's King Salman to the Emir of Qatar, Sheikh Tamim Bin Hamad Al Thani, seemed a welcome step in the right direction. This, however, is not the case. Without a complete lifting of the Saudi, United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Bahraini blockade of Qatar, any talk of its ruler attending the summit seems premature and wishful. There are still unresolved issues which may determine the level of Qatari representation at the Riyadh summit. Firstly, if the convenors were truly sincere in their desire for Sheikh Tamim to attend they would have held it in a neutral member-state such as Kuwait or Oman. OPINION: Saudi Arabia assumes the G20 presidency with a backdrop of [“¦]