KUWAIT CITY, 4 May 2004 — The six-nation alliance of Gulf Arab states are to ink a counterterrorism pact today to boost security coordination in the face of an increasing terror threat, the alliance chief said here yesterday.
“This is the most important agreement to be signed since the foundation of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) states” in 1981, GCC Secretary-General Abdulrahman Attiya told reporters on arrival in Kuwait.
“The agreement deals with (boosting) coordination and cooperation in combating terrorism ... It will have an impact on internal security and in safeguarding,” stability of the GCC member states, he said.
The pact will be signed by interior ministers of Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates whose countries make up the GCC. “It will open the way for exchange of information in various security fields ... and will be followed later by other steps,” Attiya said. Leaders of the Gulf states sealed the accord to coordinate their efforts in combating terrorism at their summit in Kuwait last December.
