MUSCAT, 9 October — The Gulf Cooperation Council yesterday reaffirmed its full support for regional and international efforts to combat terrorism. Interior ministers of the six-nation organization also denounced Western media campaign against Gulf countries, especially Saudi Arabia.

In their Muscat Declaration, the ministers disclosed that a new security agreement was on the cards to streamline their collective fight against terrorism. The ministers reiterated their condemnation of the Sept. 11 terror attacks in the United States.

“The GCC condemns terrorism and works to combat it at various levels,” the declaration said, adding that the six countries had signed the Arab anti-terror accord and the strategy to combat extremism associated with terrorism.

Prince Naif, who led the Kingdom’s delegation to the conference, on Monday lambasted the move by certain quarters to dub the GCC countries — Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Qatar, Oman, Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates — as breeding grounds of terrorism.

“The GCC states believe that terrorism is an evil which has no country, religion or nationality,” GCC Secretary-General Abdul Rahman Al-Atiyya said reading out the declaration, which also condemned the move to link Arabs and Muslims with terrorism.

“We have supported international efforts to fight terrorism and tackle its reasons and have cut financial sources of terrorists,” he said.

The GCC meeting called for distinguishing terrorism from popular resistance to occupation without causing harm to innocent people.

The declaration said the Western media attack on Saudi Arabia was aimed at creating suspicion on the Kingdom’s moderate and balanced policies in international relations.

The Muscat meeting, which was chaired by Oman’s Saud ibn Ibrahim Al-Bousaeedi, discussed ways of strengthening security cooperation and coordination between the member states in light international developments.

The ministers endorsed new guidelines for volunteer services in civil defense. They also emphasized the need for activating the resolutions related to facilitating movement of GCC citizens between the member states, promoting inter-GCC trade ties and providing visas to foreign drivers of GCC trucks at entry points.

The next meeting of GCC interior ministers will be held in Doha, Qatar.