(MENAFN- Khaleej Times) It is not just the Custodian of Two Holy Mosques, King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, who will be skipping the Camp David summit of US and allied Arab leaders. Most Gulf heads of state won't be there.
The absences will put a damper on talks that are designed to reassure key Arab allies, and almost certainly reflect dissatisfaction among leaders of the six-member Gulf Cooperation Council with Washington's handling of Iran and what they expect to get out of the meeting.
Saudi Foreign Minister Adel Al Jubeir announced late on Sunday that King Salman will not be attending the summit. The ostensible reason was because the upcoming summit on Thursday coincides with a humanitarian ceasefire in the conflict in Yemen, where a Saudi-led coalition is fighting Houthi rebels.
Crown Prince Mohammed bin Nayef, who is also interior minister, will lead the Saudi delegation and Prince Mohammed bin Salman, Deputy Crown Prince and defence minister, will also attend.
President Barack Obama had planned to meet King Salman one-on-one a day before the gathering of leaders at the presidential retreat but the White House did not take his decision to skip the summit as a sign of any substantial disagreement with the United States.
The King, who took power in January after his brother King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz died, has not travelled abroad since his ascension to the throne.
The Kingdom of Bahrain said separately that its delegation would be headed by the country's crown prince, Salman bin Hamad Al Khalifa.
Bahrain, whose leadership has close ties to the Saudis, is an important military ally of the US. It is the longstanding host to the Navy's 5th Fleet, which is responsible for operations around the Arabian Peninsula and northern Indian Ocean, and is Washington's main naval counterbalance to Iran.
At the summit, leaders of Gulf nations will be looking for assurances that they have Obama's support at a time when the region feels under siege from Islamic extremists and by Iran's rising influence. The Gulf states worry the nuclear pact taking shape with the US, Iran and other nations may embolden Tehran to intrude more aggressively in the region.
Abdulkhaleq Abdullah, a professor of political science at Emirates University, said Gulf leaders were staying away to signal their displeasure over the nuclear talks.
"I don't think they have a deep respect, a deep trust for Obama and his promises. There is a fundamental difference between his vision of post-nuclear-deal Iran and their vision," he said. "They think Iran is a destabilising force and will remain so, probably even more, if the sanctions are lifted. ... They're just not seeing things eye to eye."
His Majesty Sultan Qaboos bin Said of Oman is among those staying away. The Sultanate will be represented instead by the deputy prime minister, Sayyid Fahd bin Mahmoud Al Said, and other officials, the country's official news agency announced.
The sultan's absence comes as little surprise. He returned home in March after spending several months in Germany for treatment.
The UAE has already announced that His Highness Shaikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Deputy Supreme Commander of the UAE Armed Forces, will lead the Emirati delegation. Shaikh Mohammed bin Zayed held talks with Obama at the White House last month.
Abdullah, the Emirati professor, said the Gulf ties with the United States remain strong, but they have been strained during Obama's tenure.
He said Obama is seen within the region as impersonal compared to his predecessors. He also noted that recent comments to The New York Times in which Obama warned that dissatisfaction at home was perhaps a bigger threat than Iran came across as unnecessary "lecturing."
"You just pre-empted the whole meeting with this kind of statement," he said.
Among those who will be at the summit is the Amir of Kuwait, His Highness Shaikh Sabah Al Ahmad Al Sabah. He arrived at Andrews Air Force Base on Monday, the official Kuwait News Agency reported.
Also, the Amir of Qatar, His Highness Shaikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, is scheduled to depart on Monday to take part in the meeting.
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