Cairo: Leaders of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) will meet for their annual summit in Riyadh on December 10, Secretary General of the six-nation bloc Abdul Latif Al Zayani said Sunday.
Saudi King Salman Bin Abdul Aziz will head the gathering, which will be preceded the day before by a ministerial preparatory meeting, he added, according to the official Saudi news agency SPA.
The leaders will discuss a number of key issues to enhance cooperation among the council’s member states in political, defence, security, economic and social fields, Al Zayani added.
“They will examine political regional and international political developments and security situation in the region and its repercussions on the council countries’ security and stability,” he said.
The GCC comprises Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman and Qatar.
The upcoming summit will be held amid Kuwaiti efforts to defuse a diplomatic row pitting Qatar against a Saudi-led bloc.
In June 2017, Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Bahrain and Egypt broke off diplomatic and transportation links with Qatar over its support for extremist groups.
The anti-Qatar quartet has repeatedly demanded Doha to comply with a set of conditions to mend ties. The demands include Qatar’s severance of links with militant and terror groups and scaling down ties with Iran, accused of meddling in Arab affairs.
Qatar has refused the conditions, saying they violate its sovereignty.
