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DUBAI — Saudi Arabia’s King Salman has designated his crown prince to attend a Gulf Arab summit with US President Barack Obama, the state news agency, SPA, reported on Sunday, just two days after the White House said the monarch would attend the gathering. Foreign Minister Adel al-Jubeir announced that Crown Prince Mohammed bin Nayef would head the delegation representing the world’s top oil exporter at the talks this week, which US sources say will focus on military cooperation.
A preliminary deal between Iran and world powers on Tehran’s nuclear programme and the crises in Syria and Yemen are also likely to be discussed at the summit today and tomorrow of the six-nation Gulf Cooperation Council in Washington and Camp David, Maryland.
In a statement from the Saudi Embassy in Washington, Jubeir said the king deputised the crown prince to attend “due to the timing of the summit, the scheduled humanitarian ceasefire in Yemen and the opening of the King Salman Centre for Humanitarian Aid.”
A senior US official said the monarch’s decision to skip the summit was “not in response to any substantive issue,” signalling the Obama administration did not regard it as a diplomatic snub.
“We first learned of the king’s possible change of plans from the Saudis on Friday night,” the official said. “This was confirmed by the Saudis on Saturday. We coordinated closely with our Saudi partners on the alternate arrangement and timing of the announcement, and look forward to welcoming Crown Prince Mohammed bin Nayef and Deputy Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.”
On Friday, a White House spokesman said Obama would meet on Wednesday with the Saudi king at the White House ahead of the wider summit. A US official had said last week that the absence of Salman, the most powerful of the Gulf monarchs, would detract from the summit.
The gathering coincides with the start of a five-day humanitarian truce in Yemen, proposed by Saudi Arabia and agreed to by the Houthi rebels it is fighting there.
Obama issued the invitation to the GCC to attend the summit after Iran and six world powers reached a framework agreement last month that would give Tehran sanctions relief in exchange for reining in its nuclear programme.
Gulf Arab neighbours, including key US ally Saudi Arabia, worry that Iran will not be deterred from a nuclear bomb and will be flush with cash from unfrozen assets to fund proxies and expand its influence in countries such as Syria, Yemen and Lebanon.
Some Gulf Arab officials have made clear they want Obama to issue new written security assurances that would help shore up their confidence that Washington would come to the aid of the Sunni-ruled monarchies against any threat from Shi’ite Iran.
Apart from Saudi Arabia and the UAE, the GCC also comprises Kuwait, Qatar, Bahrain and Oman. — Reuters.
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