卡塔尔多哈附近拉斯拉凡的一个炼油厂和储存厂的天然气储罐。阿拉伯联合酋长国迪拜周四表示,海湾合作委员会仍然有效,尽管与卡塔尔发生了激烈的争执,在下周举行的年度峰会之前,卡塔尔已经瓦解了该集团。自2017年6月以来,沙特阿拉伯、阿联酋、巴林和非海湾合作委员会成员国埃及针对多哈支持恐怖主义的指控,对卡塔尔实施了外交和经济抵制。卡塔尔否认这些指控,并表示抵制旨在削弱其主权。”阿联酋外交部长安瓦尔·加加斯说:“安理会的主要成功在于其经济方面和海湾共同市场的建立。”危机将在其背后的原因结束时结束,这就是卡塔尔对极端主义的支持及其对该地区稳定的干涉。“这场争端削弱了海湾合作委员会(GCC)的区域作用,该委员会于1980年成立,是对抗更大邻国伊朗和伊拉克的堡垒。上周,卡塔尔宣布退出欧佩克(Opec)57年后,将重点放在天然气上,此举明显打击了该集团事实上的领导人沙特阿拉伯。此举加深了外交官和分析人士的意识,即在利雅得举行的海湾合作委员会峰会上,不太可能出现近期解决争端的前景。沙特阿拉伯国王邀请卡塔尔的埃米尔参加星期天举行的国家元首会议,但多哈尚未说明它将派出何种级别的代表。巴林外交部长在周四发表的讲话中表示,卡塔尔在为期一天的首脑会议上的代表级别无关紧要。”外交部长哈立德·本·艾哈迈德·哈利法对泛阿拉伯日报Asharqal-Awsat说:“无论他们出席与否,都是一样的。”卡塔尔的危机达到了前所未有的程度,我不知道他们将如何从中恢复过来,因为卡塔尔已经加入了该地区的敌人,如伊朗,并与海湾合作委员会保持距离。“卡塔尔的统治者上个月说,这场争端“暴露了海湾合作委员会的失败”,并削弱了哪些组织的封锁,损害了区域安全。巴林、科威特、阿曼、卡塔尔、沙特阿拉伯和阿联酋。在去年的峰会上,沙特阿拉伯、阿联酋和巴林派出了部长或副总理。路透社
Natural gas tanks at a refinery and storage complex at Ras Laffan near Doha, Qatar. [Photo/IC]

DUBAI-The United Arab Emirates said on Thursday the Gulf Cooperation Council remained valid despite a bitter row with Qatar that has fractured the bloc ahead of an annual summit next week.

Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Bahrain and non-GCC member Egypt have imposed a diplomatic and economic boycott on Qatar since June 2017 over allegations Doha supports terrorism. Qatar denies the charges and says the boycott aims to curtail its sovereignty.

"The main success of the council is in its economic aspects and the creation of a Gulf common market," UAE Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Anwar Gargash said.

"The crisis will end when the cause behind it ends and that is Qatar's support of extremism and its interference in the stability of the region."

The dispute has undermined the regional role of the six-nation GCC, set up in 1980 as a bulwark against larger neighbors Iran and Iraq.

Last week, Qatar announced it was quitting OPEC after 57 years to focus on gas in an apparent swipe at the bloc's de facto leader Saudi Arabia.

The move has deepened the sense among diplomats and analysts that any prospect for a near-term resolution to the dispute was unlikely to come at the GCC summit in Riyadh.

Saudi Arabia's king has invited Qatar's emir to attend the Sunday gathering of heads of state, but Doha has not yet to say what level of representation it would send.

Bahrain's foreign minister said in remarks published on Thursday that the level of Qatari representation at the one-day summit was irrelevant.

"It is the same whether they attend or not," Foreign Minister Khalid bin Ahmed al-Khalifa told the pan Arab daily Asharq Al-Awsat.

"The crisis with Qatar has reached unprecedented levels and I don't know how they will come back from that, as Qatar has joined itself with the region's enemies such as Iran and distanced itself from the GCC."

Qatar's ruler last month said the dispute "exposed the failure" of the GCC and harmed regional security by weakening the block which groups Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the UAE.

At last year's summit, Saudi Arabia, the UAE and Bahrain sent ministers or deputy prime ministers.

Reuters