Kuwait City, Dec 6: The Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) summit was cut short by a day amid reports of heightened tension within the grouping after rulers of three member countries–Saudi Arabia, Bahrain and UAE– on Tuesday boycotted the meet here.
Differences within the GCC widened with UAE and Saudi Arabia announced forming a new and separate military and economic partnership early in the day ahead of the summit.
The Emirati Foreign Ministry in a statement said the new joint cooperation committee is assigned to cooperate and coordinate between the UAE and Saudi Arabia in all military, political, economic, trade and cultural fields, as well as others, in the interest of the two countries”.
Rulers of Saudi Arabia, Bahrain and UAE have sent lower-ranking officials to the GCC meeting.
In June, the three countries cut ties with Qatar after accusing it of supporting “terrorism”, allegations that Qatar strongly denies.
