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.
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 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.