The Gulf Arab Summit kicked off on Sunday (09 December), With the Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, and his father King Salman, meeting leaders and officials from the Gulf Cooperation Council's six member states.

But Qatar's Emir wasn't one of them.

He turned down his invite, Suggesting the rift between Doha and Riyadh is festering and unlikely to be resolved anytime soon.

Qatar, did however send its state minister for foreign affairs But the one-day talks are overshadowed by an economic and diplomatic boycott on Doha which has been in place since last year.

It's led by Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Bahrain, and Egypt who allege Qatar supports terrorism - which it denies.

Tensions also high over the murdered journalist Jamal Khashoggi.

The crown prince faced renewed pressure on Saturday (08 December) by the U.S. to restore ties with Doha following the murder.

Gulf states also urged to mend relations in order to confront Iran and up security in the region.

That's something King Salman also wants - his opening words urged unity between the states to maintain a united front against Iran and terrorism.

Oil talks will also play high on the agenda, especially after Qatar last week abruptly announced it was quitting the oil exporters' group OPEC- to focus on gas.

That's expected to be discussed in a closed-door session, which will focus not only on oil politics, but security issues which include the war in Yemen, and the trade row with Qatar.