UAE evades hosting the next Gulf summit

The ruling regime in the UAE wants to evade hosting the next Gulf summit in light of its suspicious role in stirring up strife among the GCC countries, provoking crises and distracting its positions.

Sources familiar with the General Secretariat of the Gulf Cooperation Council said that the next Gulf summit in December will not be held in the UAE capital Abu Dhabi, but in the Saudi capital Riyadh.

The sources said that the UAE, which was scheduled to host the 39th summit of the leaders of the six Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), requested that the summit be held in the headquarters country, ie Saudi Arabia, without giving reasons.

According to the sources, contacts are underway between member states to agree on a specific date for the summit, which is likely to take place before the middle of next month. There was no official statement from the Saudi and UAE sides regarding the relocation of the summit headquarters from Abu Dhabi to Riyadh.

This change comes in light of talk of a breakthrough soon Gulf crisis may occur during the summit, after the imposition of a comprehensive blockade on Qatar by Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain, as well as Egypt, since 2017, on the pretext of supporting terrorism, which Doha strongly denied, saying that to control its sovereign decision.

A US official close to US President Donald Trump has said that the latter believes the obstacle to resolving the Gulf crisis is the UAE and Abu Dhabi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Zayed.

The Washington Post, citing the US official, said Trump was pushing for an end to the Gulf crisis, which has suddenly appeared to be an unnecessary distraction in a region ravaged by conflict.

The newspaper considered that Doha won the battle and resisted the siege, and that Washington has witnessed a change in its position, from the side of Riyadh and Abu Dhabi at the beginning of the crisis, or at least falling under their influence in relation to the Gulf dispute, to a position that seemed certain that resolving the crisis is necessary, and that the blocking parties are the besieged states, not Doha, the important US partner in the region.

The New York Times recalled the efforts of former US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson within months to find a solution to the Qatar crisis with its neighbors, saying that “stood to the side of Doha.”

But she said that Trump remained unconvinced, prompting Tillerson to “pull his hands out of the dossier because of the hardening of the US president,” according to US officials at the time.

The New York Times did not overlook the leaks about the activity of individuals in favor of the UAE (George Nader and others in the framework of a special investigation into Russian interference in the US elections), saying that the disclosure “has damaged the allegations of Riyadh and Abu Dhabi” against Doha.