ABU DHABI, 24 May 2006 — Interior ministers of the six-member Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) held a consultative meeting here yesterday under the chairmanship of Sheikh Saif ibn Zayed Al-Nahayan of the United Arab Emirates and reiterated their countries’ resolve to combat all forms of terrorism. It also called for greater cooperation between GCC citizens and their security agencies.
Addressing the opening session, Interior Minister Prince Naif emphasized the need for greater contributions from religious, media, and educational and social institutions toward strengthening security in the member countries.
“It is very important that bridges of contacts and cooperation must be extended between these organizations and the security agencies in the GCC,” he said.
Prince Naif said such cooperation was essential to enhance security awareness of GCC citizens. “Security is a blessing that makes everybody happy. All must participate in preserving security and confronting those elements that remove security,” he told the ministers from the UAE, Oman, Bahrain, Qatar and Kuwait.
The Saudi minister applauded security agencies in the member countries for their efforts in defeating terrorism. “This conference comes in the wake of our countries successful efforts in confronting terrorism and containing its perpetrators,” he said and stressed the role of security in promoting economic, social and cultural development.
In his address, GCC Secretary-General Abdul Rahman Al-Attiya said the meeting was significant as it came in the backdrop fast-changing security developments in the world. He was apparently referring to the nuclear standoff between neighboring Iran and Western countries, especially the United States.
The UAE, which is the current president of GCC, said on Monday that Gulf countries planned to hold talks with Iran over concerns that Tehran’s nuclear program could pose an environmental threat to them.
Foreign Minister Sheikh Abdullah ibn Zayed Al-Nahayan raised the environmental issue at a joint news conference with German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier, who echoed long-held Western fears that Iran was secretly trying to build nuclear weapons.
