RIYADH, 24 May — Chief of Staff General Saleh ibn Ali Al-Mahya said on Tuesday that the joint military force of the Gulf states, dubbed “Peninsula Shield,” would be ready within two years.
“The Peninsula Shield will be completed during the coming two years, both in terms of personnel and of the weaponry needed for this force,” Al-Mahya told journalists after a meeting of the chiefs of staff from the Gulf Cooperation Council countries.
The GCC has a joint military force of 5,000 troops, set up in 1986 and based at Hafr Al-Baten in northeastern Saudi Arabia. The aim is to increase the size of the force to 22,000 men.
In February, the GCC countries linked their armies by a telecommunications system and unified radar. That was the first concrete measure of military cooperation since a December summit by the GCC committed the six countries to defend any of the states that comes under threat.
