Qatari Emir to Skip EU-LAS Summit: Cairo's Invitation Breaches Protocol - Source

DOHA (Sputnik) - Qatari Emir Tamim Bin Hamad Al-Thani will not attend the first EU-League of Arab States (LAS) summit, slated to begin in Egypt on 23 February, despite receiving an invitation from Cairo because Egypt's message violates international protocol at several levels, a source in the Qatari Foreign Ministry told Sputnik.

"Qatar has received an invitation to the EU-LAS summit, which will take place in Egypt… The invitation received from Egypt breaches international protocol with its language and format", the source said.

According to the source, unlike invitations to other Arab countries, Qatar's invitation was not addressed to the country's leader personally and was not sent to Qatar's permanent mission to LAS but was forwarded to the Greek Embassy in Doha instead.

"The style of the message resembles that of a reminder of the summit and is inconsistent with an official invitation", the source added.

The source described Egypt's actions as "unprofessional" but noted that Qatar's permanent representative to the Arab League would, nonetheless, participate in the summit since Doha is committed to cooperation with its partners from the European Union and to common activities with other Arab states.

The two-day EU-LAS summit will be held in the Red Sea resort city of Sharm El-Sheikh.

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The ongoing crisis in relations between Qatar and Arab countries prompted the Qatari emir last December to boycott another major event in the Arab world — the Gulf Cooperation Council in Riyadh.

In June 2017, Egypt became one of four Arab League members — Bahrain, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates — that broke off diplomatic relations with Qatar and imposed an economic blockade on the country after accusing Doha of supporting terrorism.