JEDDAH, 10 July — Foreign ministers of the six-member Gulf Cooperation Council will hold an extraordinary meeting here tomorrow to discuss the Middle East conflict, a Gulf official said yesterday.
The meeting will review “the latest developments in the Middle East, notably in the Palestinian territories,” the official told AFP, without elaborating.
The talks follow a tour of Arab and European states by Crown Prince Abdullah, deputy premier and commander of the National Guard, during which he blasted Israel’s repression of the Palestinian uprising.
Prince Abdullah warned that Israel would be committing a “fatal mistake” if it missed out on making peace with its Arab neighbors. He also urged the United States and Europe to play a balanced and effective role to establish a just and comprehensive peace in the Middle East.
More than 500 Palestinians have been killed and hundreds of others have been injured in Israeli gunfire since the start of the Palestinian intifada late September.
The GCC which groups Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, and the United Arab Emirates, has called for international protection for the Palestinians.
The last meeting of GCC focused on Abu Dhabi’s territorial dispute with Iran over the three strategic islands and affirmed its support for the UAE.
