RIYADH, Saudi Arabia — Qatar’s ruling emir is not attending the annual summit of Arab Gulf states being held Tuesday in Saudi Arabia, the country’s state media reported. ADVERTISEMENTThe GCC is a bloc composed of Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates. The bloc has been fractured by a two-year boycott of Qatar by Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Bahrain and Egypt over a political dispute. Saudi Arabia’s King Salman had invited Qatar’s ruler to the summit in line with traditional protocol. Still, teams from Saudi Arabia, the UAE and Bahrain flew this month to Qatar and participated in the Arabian Gulf Cup soccer tournament, which they had previously refused to do.

Source: Philippine Daily Inquirer December 10, 2019 10:41 UTC