Arab diplomats said Tuesday the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) asked the Arab League to cancel an Arab summit scheduled for May in Baghdad.
The diplomats told Al-Masry Al-Youm that the United Arab Emirates delegation to the Arab League submitted the request on behalf of the council to Arab League Secretary General Amr Moussa on Tuesday.
The GCC request was in response to Iraq's support of Bahraini and other Arab protesters and its stance against the government's crackdown on the protests.
"The atmosphere is not right to hold a summit in Iraq," Bahrain's Foreign Minister Khalid bin Ahmed al-Khalifa wrote on his Twitter page Tuesday.
The diplomats said Qatar and Oman did not support the request, but approved the decision made by the four other GCC countries, including Saudi Arabia.
Iraqi Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari, according to the diplomats, will visit Cairo next week to discuss the issue with Moussa before setting a date when Arab foreign ministers will decide whether to cancel the summit.
Zebari said Monday that Iraq has spent US$450 million in preparation for the summit, including infrastructure expenditures on hotels and conference halls.
If the request is approved, the diplomats anticipate an escalation in tension between Iraq and the Gulf countries.
