Qatar’s Shura Council speaker in Saudi Arabia for GCC meeting

The speaker of Qatar’s Shura Council, Ahmed Bin Abdullah Al-Mahmoud, yesterday arrived in Saudi Arabia’s Jeddah for the first time since the start of the Gulf crisis in 2017.

According to the official Qatar News Agency (QNA), Al-Mahmoud is in the kingdom to attend the 12th regular meeting of the heads of the legislative councils of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries held in Jeddah.

Al-Mahmoud, along with his delegation of Qatari state officials, was received at Jeddah International Airport by the Secretary-General of the Saudi Shura Council, Mohammed Al-Mutairi, and his Kuwaiti and Omani counterparts, Allam Al-Kandari and Ali Al-Mahrouqi.

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The meeting was said to have discussed a number of issues “issues pertaining to consolidate the GCC parliamentary march.”

On 5 June 2017, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, and Egypt severed diplomatic ties with Qatar and imposed a land and air blockade on Qatar accusing it of “sponsoring terrorism.” Doha strenuously denies the charges.

The Arab rift with Qatar intensifies – Cartoon [Sabaaneh/MiddleEastMonitor]