Gulf leaders boycott the GCC summit in Qatar

Several leaders of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) states chose boycotting the annual summit of the Gulf Cooperation Council which will start on Saturday in Doha, and thereby following Saudi Arabia's steps which decided to send lower raking representation to the summit in protest of the sharp criticism by al-Jazeera TV channel which had a program considered by Riyadh as damaging to it.

The Saudi dailies yesterday announced that the Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Abdullah Ibn Abdul Aziz will not attend the Gulf summit, noting that the foreign minister prince Saud al-Faisal will represent Saudi Arabia to the summit.

Meanwhile the King of Bahrain, Sheikh Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa, decided not to take part in the summit and Bahrain will be also represented by its foreign minister Sheikh Muhammad Bin Mubarak al-Khalifa.

There are also doubts on the participation of Oman's Sultan Sultan Qaboos Bin Said in the summit. Omani sources reported that Sultan Qaboos' participation is under consultation underway with Riyadh.

Meantime, a well-informed Gulf diplomatic source said that Kuwait's Amir Sheikh Jaber al-Ahmad al-Jaber al-Sabah and the crown prince will not take part in the Gulf summit and that the Kuwaiti foreign minister will represent his country to it.

The source added that Sheikh Maktoum Bin Rashed, the vice President and ruler of Dubai, will lead his country's delegation to the summit.