UAE minister slams Qatar ahead of GCC summit

The UAE Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Anwar Gargash has once again accused Qatar of supporting extremism and interfering in issues that affect regional stability days before the GCC summit is due to be held in Saudi Arabia.

“The upcoming GCC summit in Riyadh under Omani presidency indicates that the GCC continues to be successful economically and in creating a common market, despite the ongoing Qatar crisis. The political crisis will end when Qatar stops supporting extremism and interfering in regional stability,” Gargash said on Twitter.

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On Tuesday, the Emir of Qatar Sheikh Tamim Bin Hamad Al Thani received an official invitation from Saudi King Salman Bin Abdulaziz to attend the 39th summit of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) High Council on 9 December.

This is the first official letter from the Saudi king to the emir of Qatar since the beginning of the siege on Qatar in June 2017.

Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Bahrain and Egypt imposed a boycott on Qatar and imposed an air, sea and land blockade on it under the pretext that it supports terrorism, charges Doha denies. Qatar says the quartet’s actions are an attack on its sovereignty.