Mubasher: Kuwait’s Emir, Sheikh Nawaf al-Ahmad al-Jaber al-Sabah, headed to Saudi Arabia on Tuesday to attend the 41st GCC summit, which will be hosted in Al ULA city. 

On Monday, Qatar said that its Emir, Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani, will attend the GCC summit. The announcement was made after Kuwait’s Foreign Minister, Ahmad Nasser al-Sabah, said the kingdom will reopen its airspace and land and sea border to Qatar as of 4 January 2021.

Bahrain will be represented by its crown prince Sheikh Salman bin Hamad Al Khalifa at the annual summit and the UAE delegation will be headed by Dubai's ruler, Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum.

The 41st Summit marks the beginning of a new chapter for the GCC as it enters its fifth decade with economic integration and cooperation being a key objective since the council’s formation in 1981.

The summit is expected to see formal agreement towards ending a long-running dispute with Qatar that shattered Gulf unity at a time of heightened regional tensions with Iran, according to Reuters.

Riyadh, the UAE, Bahrain, and non-Gulf Egypt severed diplomatic, trade and travel ties with Qatar in mid-2017 over allegations Doha supports terrorism. Qatar denies that and says the boycott aims to curb its sovereignty.