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Manama: Qatar's Prime Minister Hamad Bin Jasem Bin Jabr Al Thani on Saturday rejected a rebuke by Iraq's National Security Adviser Mowaffak Al Rubaie for not inviting his country to the GCC Summit early this month.
"You have invited Iran and Turkey to the GCC Summit. Iraq is an Arab country and I think it was unfair of GCC states, to say the least, to discuss issues related to Iraq without inviting it to the talks," Al Rubaie reproached during an open question and answer session following Shaikh Hamad's speech.
But Al Thani, although surprised by the public criticism, remained composed.
"First of all the Iranians have requested to come and Qatar as the host accepted the request. The same thing happened with the Turks as well. We agree that Iraq is important, but at the same time, we need a strong Iraq, politically and militarily, but also in terms of unity," he said. "There is no unity in Iraq yet."
Right of a host
Qatar surprised its GCC allies when it invited Iran's President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad to the annual summit. It was the first time that an Iranian president attended the meeting of the organisation set up in 1981 to counter Iran's revolutionary expansionism.
Qatar said as a host it had the right to invite guests and insisted that it had informed other GCC members about the invitation.
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