ISLAMABAD, 29 August 2004 — Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf has expressed his hope that the framework agreement between Islamabad and the Gulf Cooperation Council, which was signed here recently, would strengthen economic ties between his country and GCC states. “Pakistan gives utmost importance to its relations with GCC countries,” the president said while meeting with GCC Secretary-General Abdul Rahman Al-Attiyah. GCC groups Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Bahrain, Oman, Kuwait and the United Arab Emirates.
Speaking to the Emirates News Agency, Attiyah said the agreement would pave the way for holding negotiations to establish free-trade zones and encourage free movement of capital and goods between the two sides.
The GCC chief, who is on a several-day visit to Pakistan, denounced terrorist attacks, saying they aim at creating chaos and confusion and killing innocent people. “Terrorists destroy political and social institutions and seek to achieve their illegal objectives,” he added.
Attiyah rejected charges that Arab and Islamic countries were supporting terrorism. “They make these accusations to cover up the crimes and terrorist acts being committed by Israel,” he said.
Asked about GCC’s stand on Israel’s nuclear arsenal, the secretary-general said: “We have constantly expressed our concern over the spread of the weapons of mass destruction, which poses a threat to peace, security and development in the world.”
He reiterated GCC’s call to free the Middle East from weapons of mass destruction and emphasized that Israel must join the Nuclear non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT).
