The activities of the 41st Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) summit are set to kick off later today Tuesday in the Saudi city of Al-Ula, under the chairmanship of King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud.
The GCC holds an annual meeting to discuss the progress made in achieving coordination, integration, and interdependence among the member states in various economic, commercial, educational, and cultural fields, in the interest of their peoples.
Ahead of this session, GCC secretary-general Nayef Al Hajraf welcomed the agreement to open the airspace, land, and sea borders between Saudi Arabia and Qatar, which was announced by Kuwait's Foreign Minister Sheikh Ahmed Nasser Al-Muhammad Al-Sabah.
"This step reflects the great interest and sincere efforts being made to ensure the success of the summit, which is held under exceptional circumstances," he added.
Moreover, Al Hajraf stressed that gulf nationals are proud of this step, looking forward to strengthening GCC with all hopes, aspirations, and opportunities towards a coherent and solid Gulf bloc that works to serve its countries and peoples and advances development, progress, security, and stability.
On his part, Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman confirmed that the forthcoming GCC summit would be would 'comprehensive' and 'inclusive' one, which led members to “reunification”.
He also added that Saudi Arabia's policy "is based on a firm approach of achieving the supreme interests of the GCC and Arab states, harnessing all its efforts for the benefit of their peoples in order to achieve their security and stability."
The crown prince also prayed for the security, stability, solidarity, and cohesion of the GCC states.
Moreover, The UAE Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Anwar Gargash stated that the GCC summit, which is being held in Saudi Arabia, will restore the unity of the Gulf.
“There’s more work ahead of us and we’re on the right track,” he said in a tweet.
GCC
GCC is a regional intergovernmental political and economic union consisting of all Arab states of the Persian Gulf except Iraq, namely: Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates.
The charter of the GCC was signed on 25 May 1981, formally establishing the institution.
Arab-Gulf Reconciliation
Kuwait has since been trying to meditate for a solution to end the rift between the Arab Quartet and Doha.
In 2017, the Arab Quartet which consists of Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, and the UAE cut diplomatic and transportation links with Qatar, accusing it of supporting militant groups.
On Monday Qatar said its ruler Sheikh Tamim would attend the GCC summit being held in Saudi Arabia on Tuesday.
The announcement came after Kuwait said there had been a breakthrough in the boycott of Qatar by Saudi Arabia and other Gulf and Arab countries since 2017.
According to a senior Trump administration official, a breakthrough has been reached in Qatar’s three-year-old dispute with Saudi Arabia and three other Arab countries and an agreement aimed at ending their rift is to be signed in Saudi Arabia on Tuesday.
Egypt’s position towards proposed reconciliation
Egypt’s President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi reiterated the Egyptian policy constants aiming to maintain Arab solidarity, in response to the Kuwaiti efforts to resolve the Gulf crisis between the Arab quartet and Qatar.
The president has expressed appreciation and support to the Kuwaiti sincere efforts stemming from good intentions over the past years to achieve the desired reconciliation.
Last Thursday, Egypt announced its terms to resume normal relations with Qatar.
The official spokesperson for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Ahmed Hafez said that Egypt always supports sincere efforts to preserve the unity of the Arab ranks.
“Egypt always seeks to reach reconciliation between the Arab Quartet on one hand and Qatar on the other hand,” he added.
The desired reconciliation should restore cohesion within the Arab house and allows constructive cooperation and preserves the interests of all parties,” Hafez noted.
In this context, the spokesman stressed the importance of having sincere intentions to achieve true reconciliation that would restore Arab relations to their normal sphere.
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