Saudi King Salman will not attend Obama’s summit

OREANDA-NEWS. Saudi Arabia's King Salman bin Abdel-Aziz will not attend a 13-14 May summit hosted by President Barack Obama to discuss strengthening military ties between the US and the six members of the Gulf Co-operation Council (GCC).

In a move widely viewed in Washington as a snub designed to signal Saudi Arabia's displeasure over Obama's determination to reach a nuclear agreement with Iran, Saudi foreign minister Adel al-Jubeir announced yesterday that crown prince Mohammad bin Nayef will lead his country's delegation.

Prince Mohammad serves as Saudi Arabia's deputy prime minister and interior minister. He will be joined by the king's son, deputy crown prince and defense minister Mohammad bin Salman.

Al-Jubeir pointed to tomorrow's scheduled ceasefire of Saudi Arabia's military operations in Yemen against Houthi rebels, as well as the opening of the King Salman Center for Humanitarian Aid, to explain the king's absence.

As late as 8 May, the US administration was expecting to host King Salman and other GCC leaders at the White House on 13 May and at the presidential retreat at Camp David on 14 May.

But the number of heads of state planning to attend continues to shrink. Bahrain announced yesterday that King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa will not attend. Instead, the king is sending crown prince and deputy supreme commander Salman bin Hamad Al Khalifa to lead his country's delegation.

Qatar's Emir Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani will be attending the summit, the Qatari embassy in Washington confirmed.

The White House declined immediate comment today ahead of a scheduled press briefing this afternoon.

Obama had announced plans to host GCC leaders on 2 April, after briefing Salman on the nuclear framework agreement that the US and its P5 + 1 negotiating partners had reached with Iran regarding Tehran's nuclear program. Nuclear negotiators are using that framework in hopes of reaching a comprehensive nuclear agreement by 30 June.

Secretary of state John Kerry met with al-Jubeir and other GCC foreign ministers in Paris on 8 May to discuss the technical aspects of the upcoming meetings at the White House and at Camp David.

Kerry said the goal of the summit is to create "a new security understanding, a new set of security initiatives, that will take us beyond anything that we have had before."

United Arab Emirates ambassador to the US Yousef al-Otaiba, speaking at a forum hosted by the Atlantic Council on 7 May, said his country is looking for some kind of security guarantee "given the behavior of Iran in the region, given the rise of the extremist threat."

Otaiba said that "in the past, we have survived with a gentleman's agreement with the US about security. I think today we need something in writing."