Kuwait: 6 Gulf countries to convene on parliament level

By Ahmed el-Masri

DOHA (AA) - Kuwait is expected on Wednesday to hold a meeting of six Gulf countries on a parliamentary level, Kuwaiti News Agency (KUNA) reported Tuesday.

KUNA quoted Marzouq al-Ghanim, speaker of the Kuwaiti parliament, as saying “the meetings of the coordinating committees for chiefs of Gulf parliaments' conference are underway".

He added that members of the delegations and coordination committees will arrive in Kuwait on Wednesday to carry out preparations for the conference.

Al-Ghanim expressed his hopes that Kuwait would host the conference successfully.

Last Wednesday, al-Ghanim announced that Kuwait will be hosting the conference on Jan.8.

This would be the first Gulf activity that Kuwait will host after the 38th summit on Dec.5, 2017.

The summit witnessed the participation of only Kuwaiti Emir Sheikh Sabah al-Ahmad al-Jaber and Qatari Emir Tamim bin Hamad -- with the absence of leaders from Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Bahrain while Oman participated with its usual representation in summits.

Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Egypt and Bahrain all abruptly cut their relations with Qatar last June, accusing Doha of supporting terrorist groups in the region.

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

Qatar, however, refused to comply, denying the accusations against it and describing the Saudi-led embargo as a “breach of its national sovereignty”.