Keyissues to be discussed at GCC summit in Kuwait
14 December 2009
RIYADH: Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah is to lead the Kingdom's delegation to the summit of the six-nation Gulf
Cooperation Council (GCC), which is scheduled to start in Kuwait today.
Foreign Minister Prince Saud Al-Faisal, who arrived in Kuwait on Sunday with Finance Minister Ibrahim Al-Assaf, attended a ministerial
meeting with his Gulf counterparts to give final touches to the GCC summit agenda, discuss draft decisions and talk about the main points
of a joint statement to be released later by the Gulf leaders.
"The summit will start on Monday evening and I expect that the heads of Gulf states would start arriving in Kuwait around midday," said
Ahmed Al-Kabi, a spokesman of the GCC General Secretariat, via telephone from Kuwait.
Asked about the agenda, Al-Kabi said he was not aware of the specifics so far. However, major political and commercial issues, including
Iran's nuclear standoff, terrorism, the Middle East peace process, the Saudi position on intruders, a common currency and ways of further
strengthening ties among member states of the GCC are likely to be discussed at the two-day summit.
"In fact, the GCC summit will discuss the whole range of regional and international issues including Iran's nuclear program and Saudi
defense of the Saudi-Yemen border," said a report obtained by Arab News here on Sunday.
The summit coincides with the call given by Yemeni Foreign Minister Abu Bakr Al-Qurbi on Sunday, asking Tehran to crack down on
Iranian groups he accused of aiding Houthi rebels in northern Yemen, said the report.
The GCC leaders will, as a result, address the situation in Yemen politically and evaluate GCC-funded developmental programs. The
summit will also assert the firm stance toward supporting Yemen's security and assure Sanaa about continuous support for development
from the Gulf bloc, said Abdul Rahman Al-Attiyah, in a statement, on Sunday.
It is important to note in this context that the GCC summit coincides with Al-Qurbi's visit, who is in Kuwait carrying a letter of Yemeni
President Ali Abdullah Saleh to Kuwait's president and other GCC heads. The letter is said to deal with the situation in Yemen.
Also on the agenda will be the role of the Gulf bloc in tackling political challenges like the Middle East peace process, Israeli withdrawal
from occupied Arab territories and the eventual establishment of an independent Palestine state. The report said that Dubai's debt crisis
provides the unsettled backdrop to the annual gathering of leaders from the GCC. Gulf leaders are expected to give the green light to a
number of multibillion-dollar economic projects but it remains unclear whether they will also step in to ease the woes of debt-ridden Dubai.
The GCC would also officially launch a monetary union pact, likely to approve a multibillion-dollar railway network and commission the start
of a common power grid project, said another GCC official on condition of anonymity.
He said that the question of the appointment of a new GCC secretary-general for the 2011-2014 term could also be discussed.
In June this year, Bahrain nominated Mohammad Al-Mutawa, cultural adviser to the Bahraini prime minister, to the post. All Gulf states
except Qatar have supported Bahrain's choice. But Doha is seeking to extend Al-Attiyah's term to 2014.
By Ghazanfar Ali Khan
Arab News 2009
Article originally published by Arab News 14-Dec-09
14 December 2009
RIYADH: Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah is to lead the Kingdom's delegation to the summit of the six-nation Gulf
Cooperation Council (GCC), which is scheduled to start in Kuwait today.
Foreign Minister Prince Saud Al-Faisal, who arrived in Kuwait on Sunday with Finance Minister Ibrahim Al-Assaf, attended a ministerial
meeting with his Gulf counterparts to give final touches to the GCC summit agenda, discuss draft decisions and talk about the main points
of a joint statement to be released later by the Gulf leaders.
"The summit will start on Monday evening and I expect that the heads of Gulf states would start arriving in Kuwait around midday," said
Ahmed Al-Kabi, a spokesman of the GCC General Secretariat, via telephone from Kuwait.
Asked about the agenda, Al-Kabi said he was not aware of the specifics so far. However, major political and commercial issues, including
Iran's nuclear standoff, terrorism, the Middle East peace process, the Saudi position on intruders, a common currency and ways of further
strengthening ties among member states of the GCC are likely to be discussed at the two-day summit.
"In fact, the GCC summit will discuss the whole range of regional and international issues including Iran's nuclear program and Saudi
defense of the Saudi-Yemen border," said a report obtained by Arab News here on Sunday.
The summit coincides with the call given by Yemeni Foreign Minister Abu Bakr Al-Qurbi on Sunday, asking Tehran to crack down on
Iranian groups he accused of aiding Houthi rebels in northern Yemen, said the report.
The GCC leaders will, as a result, address the situation in Yemen politically and evaluate GCC-funded developmental programs. The
summit will also assert the firm stance toward supporting Yemen's security and assure Sanaa about continuous support for development
from the Gulf bloc, said Abdul Rahman Al-Attiyah, in a statement, on Sunday.
It is important to note in this context that the GCC summit coincides with Al-Qurbi's visit, who is in Kuwait carrying a letter of Yemeni
President Ali Abdullah Saleh to Kuwait's president and other GCC heads. The letter is said to deal with the situation in Yemen.
Also on the agenda will be the role of the Gulf bloc in tackling political challenges like the Middle East peace process, Israeli withdrawal
from occupied Arab territories and the eventual establishment of an independent Palestine state. The report said that Dubai's debt crisis
provides the unsettled backdrop to the annual gathering of leaders from the GCC. Gulf leaders are expected to give the green light to a
number of multibillion-dollar economic projects but it remains unclear whether they will also step in to ease the woes of debt-ridden Dubai.
The GCC would also officially launch a monetary union pact, likely to approve a multibillion-dollar railway network and commission the start
of a common power grid project, said another GCC official on condition of anonymity.
He said that the question of the appointment of a new GCC secretary-general for the 2011-2014 term could also be discussed.
In June this year, Bahrain nominated Mohammad Al-Mutawa, cultural adviser to the Bahraini prime minister, to the post. All Gulf states
except Qatar have supported Bahrain's choice. But Doha is seeking to extend Al-Attiyah's term to 2014.
By Ghazanfar Ali Khan
Arab News 2009Article originally published by Arab News 14-Dec-09