Saudi King Absent at GCC Summit Overshadowed by Qatar Crisis
- Qatar’s emir only head of state present, along with host
- Meeting ended early; no mention of feud in closing statement
Adel Al-Jubeir
Photographer: Akio Kon/Bloomberg
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The Qatari emir was the only head of state -- other than his Kuwaiti host -- at a Gulf summit on Tuesday, as leaders including Saudi Arabia’s King Salman stayed away from a meeting that was overshadowed by the rift with Qatar and ended a day early.
The Saudi delegation was headed by Foreign Minister Adel Al-Jubeir, while Bahrain sent its deputy prime minister to the Gulf Cooperation Council meeting, hosted by Kuwaiti leader Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmed Al-Sabah. The United Arab Emirates was represented by its junior foreign minister, Anwar Gargash, while Oman followed its recent precedent by sending its deputy premier to represent Sultan Qaboos.