Bahrain will not attend any summits with Qatar: King

Ahmed al-Masri

DOHA (AA) - Bahrain will not attend any summits or meetings attended by Qatar until the latter “corrects its approach”, Bahraini King Hamad bin Isa al-Khalifa said Monday.

He made the assertion at a meeting of Bahrain’s Council of Ministers held at Manama’s Qudaybia Palace, according to Bahrain’s official news agency.

The king’s statement was the first of its kind to be issued by a Gulf leader since the ongoing crisis in inter-Arab relations -- pitting Qatar against a five-nation Arab bloc led by Saudi Arabia -- began five months ago.

“Qatar has shown that it does not respect the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC)’s founding charter and continues to implement policies that threaten the security of GCC member states,” the statement read.

It added: “Bahrain cannot attend any summit or meeting attended by Qatar until the latter corrects its approach, returns to its senses and responds to the demands of those countries that have suffered [from its policies].”

In June, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Egypt and Bahrain all abruptly cut diplomatic and commercial ties with Qatar, accusing it of supporting terrorist groups in the region.

The four states also threatened Qatar with additional sanctions if Doha failed to meet a long list of demands, including one for the closure of Qatari news broadcaster Al Jazeera.

Qatar, however, has refused to comply, vociferously denying the accusations against it and describing Saudi-led attempts to isolate it as a breach of international law.