Senior Gulf officials gather in Qatar after rift

A general view shows the foreign ministers of the Gulf Cooperation Council foreign meeting in Doha, Qatar, Tuesday, Dec. 9, 2014. Senior officials from the Gulf Arab states are meeting in the Qatari capital for a summit of the six-member Gulf Cooperation Council, which follows an unusually public rift that tested diplomatic relations in the oil-rich region. (AP Photo/Osama Faisal) A general view shows the foreign ministers of the Gulf Cooperation Council foreign meeting in Doha, Qatar, Tuesday, Dec. 9, 2014. Senior officials from the Gulf Arab states are meeting in the Qatari capital for a summit of the six-member Gulf Cooperation Council, which follows an unusually public rift that tested diplomatic relations in the oil-rich region. (AP Photo/Osama Faisal)

By Associated Press December 9, 2014 2 min read

DOHA, Qatar (AP) – Arab leaders from the six-member Gulf Cooperation Council arrived Tuesday to Qatar for the group’s first regional summit since an agreement ended an unusually public dispute among the clubby Western-allied nations.

Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain formally withdrew their ambassadors from Doha in March in a move widely seen as a protest over Qatar’s support for Islamist groups like the Muslim Brotherhood throughout the region. Egypt, Saudi Arabia and the UAE have branded the Brotherhood a “terrorist group”.

Security issues are expected to dominate the summit in Doha. The meeting also takes place amid a sharp tumble in oil prices that is likely to impact energy-rich Gulf Arab states.

Of the six GCC nations, Saudi Arabia, the UAE and Bahrain have taken part in airstrikes against the Islamic State group in Iraq and Syria. Qatar and Kuwait are hosting bases for Western countries active in the U.S.-led coalition.

Qatar’s Emir Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thani expressed hope that the summit marks the start of a new page in Gulf relations.