LONDON: The Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) has confidence in Saudi Arabia’s role in promoting dialogue in the Gulf, Bahrain’s foreign minister said on Sunday.

Speaking during a virtual meeting of Gulf Arab foreign ministers, Abdullatif bin Rashid Al-Zayani said that the Kingdom played an “important role” in beginning a new phase to strengthen Gulf dialogue and bridge the rift in the region.

Gulf countries aim to stand up to interference in their internal affairs and stressed the need to end regional conflicts by peaceful means, Al-Zayani added.

The foreign ministers meeting comes ahead of a summit that will be hosted by Saudi Arabia to discuss steps to end a diplomatic row between Gulf states and Qatar.

The meeting hosted by Bahrain prepared the ground for the 41st session of the GCC Summit which will be held on Jan. 5 in Riyadh, Bahrain News Agency (BNA) reported. 

Al-Zayani added that GCC countries aim to confront hate speech and violence, and to protect their security.