A Gulf diplomatic source has revealed that a number of Gulf foreign ministers may boycott the Organization of Islamic Conference (OIC) meeting to be held in Doha on May 26.
The decision, according to the diplomat, comes as a protest against Qatar’s hosting of an Israeli commercial liaison office.
Reports following the Cairo Arab summit in October said that Qatar closed the office, but they were not confirmed and no official statement was issued on the closure by the Qatari government.
The source, speaking to AFP, said that among the protestors is Saudi Foreign Minister Saud Al Faisal, who will send his deputy Nizar Madani to the meeting, which will discuss ways of supporting the Palestinian people. The UAE and Kuwait will also lower the level of their representation, with the former to dispatch a senior official at its foreign ministry and the latter, State Minister for Foreign Affairs Mohammad Salem Sabah.
The Gulf diplomat said that the Gulf sates agreed to participate in the session in response to an appeal by the Palestinian Authority.
“How can we support the Palestinians if some states have not complied with the Cairo Arab summit and the Doha OIC summit, which called for cutting relations with Israel?” said another diplomat in a statement to AFP.
Morocco, Oman and Tunisia announced after the two summits that the Israeli offices in their respective capitals were closed.
Jordan and Egypt have been the only Arab countries to sign peace treaties with Israel in 1979 and 1994, respectively. The Arab and Muslim leaders meeting at the summits did not call for abolishment of the agreements. However, a foreign ministerial meeting at the Arab League early this week called on member states to halt all political and diplomatic contacts with Israel after it launched F-16 attacks on the Palestinians – Albawaba.com
