Two Ambassadors of the Gulf Cooperation Council representing two of the four-member countries from Qatar and the United Arab Emirates (U.A.E) paid a courtesy call to His Majesty Letsie III at the Royal Palace on Thursday.
The delegation of two comprised of representatives from the State of Qatar Mr. Khalid A. M. Al-Sharshani as well as Charge d’affairs, Ms. Fatema Yousef Obaid Bakheet Alsuwaidi from the United Arab Emirates (U.A.E).
The delegation later paid a courtesy call to the Prime Minister, Mr Ntsokoane Sam Matekane at the State House.
In a brief interview thereafter, Principal Secretary for Foreign Affairs, Mr. Thabo Motoko explained that the ambassadors were invited by His Majesty Letsie III, adding that the reasons why he invited them will be disclosed later.
He said His Majesty had invited four GCC member states from the Middle East but that only two were able to make it while others reported that they were late to catch a flight to Lesotho at the OR. Tambo International airport.
Mr. Motoko, therefore, said the King had to reschedule the visit for next week, where all the details of having invited them will be disclosed and discussed in detail.
The representative of the Sultanate of Oman did not come since the Kingdom of Lesotho and the Sultanate of Oman have not yet established diplomatic relations while the Kingdom of Bahrain does not have a diplomatic mission in Pretoria.
The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia which was scheduled to be represented by Ambassador Sultan Alangari, and the State of Kuwait by Charge d’affaires, Mr. Saleh Al-thuwaikh failed to make it.
The GCC is a political and economic alliance of six Middle Eastern countries the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, the State of Kuwait, the United Arab Emirates, the State of Qatar, the Kingdom of Bahrain, and the Sultanate of Oman.
The GCC was established in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, in May 1981. All its current members are monarchies, including three constitutional monarchies namely Qatar, Kuwait, and Bahrain. The other two are absolute monarchies namely Saudi Arabia and Sultanate of Oman and one federal monarchy, namely the United Arab Emirates.
Source: LENA 12/01/2023
