Washington, May 15 (RHC)-- U.S. President Barack Obama hosted emirs and crown princes of Persian Gulf Arab states at the White House as part of the U.S.-Arab meeting at Camp David on Thursday. Obama welcomed the emirs of Kuwait and Qatar, as well as the crown princes of the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, and Saudi Arabia.

Oman has sent its deputy prime minister to the summit and Saudi Arabia's King Salman skipped the gathering entirely. And Bahrain's king announced that he would attend a horse show in Britain instead of going to the United States. The Bahraini royal court announced on Wednesday that King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa would be attending a horse show and meeting with Queen Elizabeth II in London.

Obama reportedly briefed Arab leaders over a possible nuclear deal between Iran and the P5+1 group of countries. The issues of ISIL terrorists, Yemen, and Syria are also being discussed at the two-day conference.

Although Obama and his administration insist that the Saudi monarch was not snubbing the U.S. president, tensions between Riyadh and Washington have recently soured because of geopolitical differences. Obama in April urged Persian Gulf Cooperation Council governments to be "more responsive to their people" and to untie "genuine activity that threatens national security from dissatisfaction."

Human Rights Watch HRW reminded the world, just earlier this week, of the type of leaders Washington deals with stating that "jails of Bahrain, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, in particular, now contain many men and women whose only offense was to peacefully demand political reform or criticize their government."