JEDDAH, 4 September — The six-member Gulf Cooperation Council yesterday strongly condemned the tendentious anti-Saudi campaign by some sections of the Western media.

“The GCC ministerial council denounced the ill-intentioned campaign which Saudi Arabia is subjected to by some Western media,” GCC foreign ministers said in a statement issued after a two-day meeting here.

“They seek to present a distorted image of Saudi Arabia that is far from its moderate and balanced policies in its international relations and its handling of events,” said the statement.

The ministers welcomed the recent statement by US President George W. Bush calling the anti-Saudi campaign as “irresponsible talk.”

On the Middle East crisis, the GCC ministers slammed Israel’s state terrorism against the Palestinians and reaffirmed their position that a Saudi-inspired Arab peace plan should serve as the basis for moves to establish peace in the region.

“The brutal Israeli acts will only create more tension, complicate matters further and undermine efforts to establish peace in the region,” the statement said.

“Ending Israeli occupation of Arab land is the only way to achieve a just and comprehensive settlement in the Middle East,” it added.

The ministers withheld judgment on a European peace plan outlined to them on Monday by Danish Foreign Minister Per Stig Moeller, whose country holds the rotating European Union presidency.

The statement said the GCC officials had heard “a detailed explanation from (Moeller) of the EU-backed Danish plan, which calls for achieving a just and comprehensive peace in the Middle East through the creation of a Palestinian state.”

The ministers called upon the international community to keep the Middle East free from weapons of mass destruction, especially nuclear arms. They emphasized that Israel must join the nuclear non-proliferation treaty (NPT) and give international inspectors access to its nuclear installations.

The statement said Qatari Foreign Minister Sheikh Hamad ibn Jassem ibn Jabr Al-Thani briefed the meeting on the outcome of his visit to Baghdad last week “in light of ... the tensions in relations between Iraq and the United Nations and the mounting talk of a (US) military move against Iraq.”

Sheikh Hamad met with Iraqi President Saddam Hussein, whom Washington is threatening to unseat.

The ministers also discussed the state of relations between Iraq and Kuwait, including the positive results of the Beirut summit, during which Kuwait reached a landmark agreement with its former occupier, the statement said.

These results “contribute to enhancing security and stability in the region,” it said.

Kuwait’s Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Sheikh Mohammad Sabah Al-Salem Al-Sabah had earlier stressed the emirate’s compliance with the GCC line on Iraq. “Kuwait’s stand is identical to that of fellow GCC states, who oppose any military action against Iraq,” he said.

Oman’s Yousuf ibn Alawi Abdullah, who chaired the meeting, said that Iran had proposed to the Gulf Arab states to set up a free trade zone. “We have a request from Iran to develop economic cooperation through a free trade zone between the two parties,” said the minister responsible for foreign affairs in Oman, which holds the annual GCC presidency.

“We have recommended to our leaders to agree to it,” he told a press conference. The GCC leaders are due to hold a summit conference in Doha, Qatar, in December.

The move came despite a dispute between the UAE and Iran over the control of three Gulf islands which Tehran has held since the British quit the region in 1971.

The ministers reaffirmed the UAE’s sovereignty over the three islands — Abu Moussa and the Lesser and Greater Tunbs.

They expressed their hope that the two countries would soon reach a peaceful settlement on the conflict.

The meeting reviewed the ongoing efforts to strengthen economic, political and security cooperation among the member states. It also discussed a detailed report on the economic relations between the GCC and other international blocs.