Other GCC Leaders Join Saudi King in Snubbing US Summit

White House Downplays Signs of Split With Arab States

Fresh off the revelation that Saudi King Salman is backing out of plans to attend a Camp David summit, the leaders of several other GCC nations are also revealed to be absent.

None of the leaders of the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, and Oman will be attending the summit either, though White House officials say they never actually said they were planning to in the first place.

Experts see this as a sign of a growing split between the US and the Arab states, primarily over the P5+1 nuclear talks with Iran, though the White House insisted the Saudis have had only positive things to say about them.

Not every GCC nation will be absent, however. Kuwait’s emir is already in the DC area and has confirmed attendance at the summit, and Qatar’s emir is also expected to attend.

Author: Jason Ditz

Jason Ditz is Senior Editor for Antiwar.com. He has 20 years of experience in foreign policy research and his work has appeared in The American Conservative, Responsible Statecraft, Forbes, Toronto Star, Minneapolis Star-Tribune, Providence Journal, Washington Times, and the Detroit Free Press.