Preparations for the Gulf summit, Qatar will not boycott

Originally published November 17, 2000

Gulf diplomatic sources stressed that foreign ministers of the Gulf cooperation Council GCC will hold on November 25 and 26 a preparatory meeting for the next Gulf summit due to be held on January 20 in Bahrain.

The London- based al-Hayat daily said an agreement was reached on this date in consultations held by the secretary general of the GCC Sheikh Jamil al-Hujeilan with the foreign ministers of the GCC member states, on the sideline of the Doha OIC summit.

On the other hand, Qatari sources said that it does not expect that the ruler of Qatar will not take in the works of the next GCC summit in reaction to the ruler of Bahrain's boycott of the Islamic summit.

The foreign minister of Qatar Sheikh Hamad Bin Jasem Bin Jaber al-Thani said in a press conference held after the OIC summit that the summit will not boycott the GCC summit, adding that the ruler of Qatar will determine the level of representation to this summit.