Absent from Obama summit, Bahrain king expected at UK horse show

May 13, 2015 1:32 PM

DUBAI, May 13 (Reuters) - Bahrain's King Hamad bin Issa al-Khalifa has skipped a Gulf Arab summit with U.S. President Barack Obama, but is expected to join Britain's Queen Elizabeth at a horse show near London, a show representative said.

Like Saudi Arabia's King Salman, King Hamad has decided to send his crown prince to the United States in his stead, in a perceived snub over Obama's drive to reach a nuclear deal with Iran, the arch-rival of America's traditional Gulf Arab allies.

The no-shows have reduced the prestige of the May 13-14 gathering and may undercut its ability to resolve U.S.-Gulf rifts over how to deal with Iran and wars in the region.

A media representative at the Royal Windsor Horse Show told Reuters that King Hamad was expected at the high society event which begins on Wednesday at Windsor Castle outside London and will be attended by the British royal family.

Bahrain, a Sunni Muslim-ruled kingdom, has been a sponsor of an endurance race scheduled for Friday for the last three years.

Bahrain's official news agency said the king would depart for Britain on Thursday and would have an audience with Queen Elizabeth to discuss bilateral ties.

Bahrain's Foreign Minister Sheikh Khaled bin Ahmed al-Khalifa told the agency the monarch's absence from the Camp David summit was "due to a longstanding prior engagement of His Majesty the King in the United Kingdom".

The king still seeks to "further bolster friendly relations" between Bahrain and the U.S., he added.

Qatar's ruler, Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, who is attending the Camp David summit, met the Queen at the Royal Ascot horse race this week before flying to Washington. (Reporting by Noah Browning, editing by Sami Aboudi and Crispian Balmer)