Qatar's emir to be present at GCC summit : foreign minister

Doha, Dec 4 : Qatari Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani will be present at a key summit of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) in Kuwait this week, according to Qatar's foreign minister.

Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani said on Sunday that Qatar's leader had accepted the invitation to attend the two-day event to be held held in Kuwait City starting on Tuesday, six months after a Saudi-led group of countries imposed a blockade against Qatar.

"I will attend the ministerial council tomorrow and the emir will attend the summit," several news agencies quoted Sheikh Mohammed as saying at a forum in Qatar's capital, Doha.

"It is important that the GCC system remains alive."

Last week, Kuwait sent out invitations to all six GCC member states, but it was not at all clear whether all other leaders would attend.

The GCC is a political and economic alliance of countries in the Arabian Peninsula, including countries of Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates (UAE).

Since the beginning of the blockade by Saudi Arabia, the UAE and Bahrain - as well as Egypt - on Qatar on June 5, Kuwait's Emir Sheikh Sabah Al Ahmad Al Sabah has acted as a mediator to end the ongoing dispute.

In October, he warned of the potential collapse of the GCC if the crisis is to continue.

"Contrary to our wishes and hopes, the Gulf crisis has the potential of escalating; therefore, all of us must be fully aware of its potential consequences," Sheikh Sabah told at the time.

"Any escalation will bring with it an outright call for regional and international intervention, which will destroy the security of the Gulf and its people."

In late October, the king of Bahrain said his country will not take any part in any summit or meeting attended by Qatar unless Doha "corrects its approach".