MANAMA The emir of Bahrain will boycott the summit of the Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC) which opens Sunday in Qatar because of a simmering territorial dispute, the official GNA news agency said.
Sheikh Hamad bin Issa al-Khalifa al-Thani broke the news to members of Bahrain's Consultative Council, AFP reported.
"The emir announced he will not participate at the Doha summit and that it would not be the right time to go to Qatar until the International Court of Justice has given its verdict" in the bitter dispute, the agency said.
"The emir ... stated that Qatar's pretensions on Bahrain's state territory and waters have affected relations between the two countries and prevented their development." "The emir lent his support and paid homage to the objectives of the OIC by wishing it great success," the agency said, adding it was unable to say if anyone else would represent the Persian Gulf archipelago at the three-day summit in Doha.
Qatar's emir announced on October 24 that he expected the international court of justice to grant it sovereignty over the Hawar Islands which are controlled by Bahrain.
"Qatar has made efforts to reach a peaceful solution to the conflict with Bahrain. Qatar's aim is to recover its legitimate rights," Sheikh Hamad said.
"The Hawar Islands, which the British authorities granted to Bahrain in 1939 in an arbitrary and illegal decision based on political and economic considerations, represented by oil interests, are just a few meters (yards) from our coasts," he said.
"We hope the court will reestablish the legitimate rights of Qatar."