MANAMA (Reuters) -- Kuwait will hold a donor conference to gather humanitarian aid for Syria by the end of January, the emir, Sheikh Sabah al-Ahmad al Sabah, said on Monday.

Speaking in Bahrain at the opening session of the annual summit of the Gulf Cooperation Council, a grouping of six oil-exporting Gulf Arab countries, Sheikh Sabah said Kuwait was acting in response to an invitation by UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon.