Saudi, UAE miffed over Kuwait's GCC invite to Qatar, set up new bloc

Kuwait on Thursday invited Qatar to a summit of Gulf countries next week amid the existent Saudi-led boycott of Doha

Saudi Arabia and United Arab Emirates (UAE) will set up a joint cooperation committee which will coordinate between the two sides in the field of military, politics, economy, trade, culture and other areas of mutual interest.

UAE President Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan has issued a resolution setting up the UAE-Saudi Arabia joint cooperation committee, Gulf News reported.

According to media reports, the committee will be headed by Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, crown prince of Abu Dhabi, and Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan, UAE's deputy prime minister and minister of presidential affairs, will serve as the Deputy Chairman of the committee.

As per the resolution, a decision on the appointment of the committee's members, who will be representatives from the UAE's public sector and federal bodies, will be made by the chairman of the committee.

The resolution comes at a time when Kuwait is hosting a Gulf Cooperation Council summit amid trade and travel ban on Qatar imposed by Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, the United Arab Emirates and Egypt, who have accused Doha of supporting and funding "terrorism".

However, Qatar has rejected these allegations and termed the actions by Gulf member countries of isolating it diplomatically as "unjustified".

Kuwait invites Qatar to GCC amid Gulf crises

Kuwait on Thursday invited Qatar to a summit of Gulf countries next week amid the existent Saudi-led diplomatic boycott of Doha.

The Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) Summit is scheduled for December 5 and 6.

Kuwait, which is not among Arab states boycotting Qatar, invited Qatari emir Sheikh Tamim bin Haman al-Thani to the summit of the Gulf Cooperation Council on December 5 and 6, the state-run KUNA news agency said.

The message was delivered by Kuwait's ambassador to Qatar during a meeting with Qatari emir Sheikh Tamim bin Haman Al Thani on Thursday.

In June, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Egypt and Bahrain abruptly cut diplomatic and commercial ties with Doha.

The quartet has accused Qatar of funding "terrorism", a charge that Doha has vehemently denied, calling it an attempt to isolate it.

Kuwait has been trying to play the mediating role from the past six months for the ongoing Gulf crises.

According to the reports, Bahrain said in October that it will refuse to attend the summit if Doha does not change its policies and urged the other countries to suspend Qatar's membership of the GCC.

The GCC, which was established in 1981, is a political and economic alliance of countries in the Arabian Peninsula.

Its member states are Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates.

It promotes economic, security, cultural and social cooperation between the six states and holds a summit every year to discuss regional affairs.