White House postpones planned Trump summit with Gulf leaders

Doha: The summit planned by the Trump administration with Gulf Arab leaders in May has been postponed until September, according to reports in Reuters and Al-Jazeera TV.

The planned summit was expected to seek an end to the dispute between Qatar and other U.S. allies in the region.

The decision to delay the May summit with the six-nation Gulf Cooperation Council is attributed to a crowded diplomatic calendar, and the fact that since the ouster of Rex Tillerson as secretary of state, President Donald Trump is without a secretary until the Senate confirms current CIA Director Mike Pompeo, to the post.

That official version apart, there are others who concede that the delay is an acknowledgement of the little progress made so far in ending the bitter standoff between Qatar and other Gulf nations, particularly Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.

Although, as per media sources, the US officials claims this is entirely their decision, some point out that May is a packed month with diplomatic fixtures including a meeting between the US president and North Korean leader Kim Jong

A spokeswoman for the White House National Security Council, however, was quoted as saying that the delay was not tied to the tensions over Qatar, adding that, “President Trump is committed to resolving the Gulf dispute this month.”