RIYADH, 30 January 2003 — Ministers of defense and foreign affairs from the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) will hold a meeting in Riyadh in the first week of February focused on the Iraq crisis, a source at the GCC general secretariat said yesterday. The ministers are to "study the political and military situation in the region and consult on measures to adopt to face up to the fallout from a possible war on Iraq," the source said. Al-Hayat newspaper, quoting Gulf diplomatic sources, said the meeting would take place on Feb. 8. Efforts to find a peaceful solution to the crisis have failed because of US insistence on eliminating the regime in Baghdad, they said. (AFP)