First it was King Salman of Saudi Arabia. Now, three other heads of state from the Gulf Cooperation Council won't be heading to the United States to attend the Camp David summit on Thursday.
Officially, King Salman isn't participating because the summit falls on the day of a humanitarian cease-fire with Yemen, where a Saudi-led coalition is fighting Shiite Houthis rebels. In his place, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Nayef and Deputy Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman – Saudi Arabia's interior and defense ministers – will be going.
Bahrain's King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa will also not be present, sending Crown Prince Salman bin Hamad Al Khalifa in his stead. Bahrain is an important U.S. military ally, but its leadership has close ties to Saudi Arabia — hinting at the possible influence King Salman may have had on the country's decision not to send its leader to the summit.
As for Oman, instead of sending Sultan Qaboos bin Said – the country's deputy prime minister – Sayyid Fahd bin Mahmoud Al Said will be going to the summit, along with other Omani officials. It isn't entirely surprising to learn that the sultan won't be flying to the U.S., as he recently spent several months receiving medical treatment in Germany.
The president of the United Arab Emirates also has health reasons for not attending the summit. Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan suffered a stroke back in January 2014 and has not been seen in public since. His half-brother, Crown Prince Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, will be leading the Emirati delegation instead.
The only two Gulf heads of state to meet with Obama at Camp David are Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, the emir of Qatar, and Sabah Al Ahmad Al Sabah, the emir of Kuwait.
Though he had scheduled a one-on-one meeting with King Salman before the summit, President Obama does not consider the king's absence suggestive of a disagreement between the U.S. and Saudi Arabia.
Obama will be using the summit to allay the Gulf's worries over Iran and other concerns in the region, in addition to reiterating that the Gulf continues to have U.S. support. Gulf ties with the U.S. have always been strong — but experts say relations have become strained during Obama's time in office.
Photo: U.S. Army | Flickr
