Among Gulf states, only Qatar and Kuwait will be represented by their rulers

Nine leaders to attend Arab summit By Habib Toumi Bureau Chief Published: 12:18 March 23, 2014 Share on facebookShare on twitterShare on emailShare on printMore Sharing Services1.Manama: Nine heads of state are so far expected to attend the Arab summit on Tuesday and Wednesday in Kuwait, a Kuwaiti daily has said. Kuwait, Qatar, Lebanon, Egypt, Jordan, Yemen, Palestine, Tunisia and Somalia will be represented by their leaders whereas seven countries — Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Iraq, Algeria, Morocco, Oman and the UAE- will send their crown princes, deputy presidents or prime ministers to the summit, Kuwaiti daily Al Seyassah said on Sunday. Sudan, Djibouti, Comoros and Mauritania have not yet announced who would represent them at the annual gathering of Arab countries. Libya will send the head of the Public Congress whereas Syria will not be represented by anyone and its seat will remain vacant, even though Ahmad Jarba, the head of the Syrian National Coalition, is expected to deliver a speech, the daily said, quoting sources close to the summit. The sources said that the number of leaders present at the summit was “more or less similar to the ones in previous summits.” “The fact that the summit will be held on time is an achievement,” the sources said. “The Arab world is going through highly exceptional circumstances and numerous divergences of viewpoints. Kuwait has nevertheless been keen on the summit and it will be held amid hopes that it will help the Arabs move beyond threats and challenges,” they added. The rulers of Bahrain, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, the three Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries that have pulled out their ambassadors earlier this month from fellow GCC member Qatar, are not expected to attend the summit. Abu Dhabi has already announced that His Highness Shaikh Hamad Bin Mohammad Al Sharqi, Ruler of Fujairah and Supreme Council Member, will head the UAE delegation to the Arab Summit on Tuesday and Wednesday. “The three GCC countries could be sending a message to one or many parties,” the sources said. “Qatar will be the only GCC country [besides host Kuwait] to be represented by its ruler at the summit in which the Qatari Emir Shaikh Tamim Bin Hamad Al Thani will hand over the rotating presidency to Kuwait, the host of the 25th summit,” they said. Oman is the sixth member of the GCC, established in 1981. ============= Qatar, Turkey excluded from Cairo Islamic meeting Doha, Ankara accused of pursuing anti-Egypt policy By Ramadan Al Sherbini Correspondent Published: 18:27 March 22, 2014 Cairo: Egypt has not invited Qatar and Turkey for a major Islamic conference due in Cairo later this week, an Egyptian official disclosed Saturday, accusing both countries of pursuing a policy hostile to Egypt. “We are not having a crisis with the Qatari or Turkish people … The issue lies in the policy of the Turkish and Qatari governments,” Egyptian Minister of Waqfs (religious endowments) Mohammad Jumaa told a press conference. Cairo is hosting Tuesday a conference on religious extremism, as Egypt continues an inexorable crackdown on Islamists in what the military-backed government portrays as a “war against terrorism”. Around 80 scholars from 34 countries and foreign Islamic organisations are participating in the two-day conference. Jumaa said that Egypt would continue to “welcome” Qatari and Turkish students into Al Azhar, a prestigious Islamic seat of learning. Relations between Egypt on the one hand and Qatar and Turkey on the other have deteriorated since July last year when the Egyptian military toppled Islamist president Mohammad Mursi following enormous street protests against his one-year rule. Qatar and Turkey are staunch backers of Mursi and his Muslim Brotherhood group. Earlier this year, Egypt summoned the Qatari ambassador in Cairo to protest Doha’s condemnation of a security crackdown on the Brotherhood’s followers. Egypt disclosed this month that it has recalled its ambassador from Qatar and will not send him back in the near future. The disclosure was made after the UAE, Saudi Arabia and Bahrain withdrew their envoys from Doha, accusing Qatar of meddling in their internal affairs. “The Ministry of Waqfs will not resume contacts with Turkey until the Turkish government apologises to Egypt and to his eminence Imam of Al Azhar, and changes its policy towards Cairo,” said Jumaa. Late last year, Egypt expelled the Turkish ambassador and downgraded diplomatic ties with Ankara to the level of charge d’affaires in protest against what it described as meddlesome remarks by Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan. The Turkish premier has condemned Mursi’s overthrow as a coup and called for his reinstatement. Turkey has also criticised Al Azhar Shaikh for backing Mursi’s removal. ================= Qatar says no differences with Saudi Arabia over Syria Sun, Mar 23 07:03 AM EDT DOHA (Reuters) - Qatar dismissed reports of rivalry with neighboring Saudi Arabia over efforts to end Syria's war, saying the two countries - the main Arab backers of rebel forces - had "the highest level of coordination". Diplomats and opposition sources have reported strains between Qatari- and Saudi-backed groups within Syria's opposition National Coalition and have said the two countries have supported different armed groups on the ground. The official Qatar News Agency said Foreign Minister Khaled al-Attiyah, speaking at a public forum in Brussels on Saturday, "denied the rumors" about a dispute between Riyadh and Doha over Syria. "We have the highest level of coordination with the Friends of Syria and in particular with Saudi Arabia," QNA cited Attiyah as saying. Diplomats and opposition sources say that while Qatar supports the moderate armed groups also backed by Saudi Arabia and the West, it also has backed more hardline groups that seek to set up a strict Islamic state. The reported differences have undermined rebel efforts to battle the forces of President Bashar al-Assad, opposition sources say. Admirers of Qatari policy in Syria say Saudi Arabia tends to support the same armed groups as Qatar does. The tiny but wealthy gas exporting country is under fierce pressure from Saudi Arabia, the dominant Gulf Arab power, to curb its support for Islamists of all stripes. In an unprecedented move within the Gulf Cooperation Council of allied hereditary monarchies, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain recalled their ambassadors from Qatar on March 5, accusing Doha of failing to abide by an accord not to interfere in each others' internal affairs. Qatar strongly denies interfering in Gulf Arab affairs and says its differences with its neighbors are instead to do with developments in the wider region - a reference to Egypt, where Saudi Arabia is helping the military-backed government and Qatar has voiced support for Islamist opposition forces. Attiyah had dismissed demands by the three fellow Gulf states for changes to its foreign policy, calling its independence "non-negotiable". (Reporting by Amena Bakr; Editing by Rania El Gamal, William Maclean and Sonya Hepinstall) =============================