RIYADH, 25 August — Foreign ministers of the Gulf Cooperation Council will meet on Sept. 2-3 in Jeddah to study US threats against Iraq and Israeli terrorism, the GCC secretary- general said here yesterday.
The GCC Ministerial Council will also review a host of issues to speed up unity between the six-nation alliance, Abdulrahman Al-Attiya said in a statement.
The ministers will review the “situation between Iraq and Kuwait, and Iraq’s implementation of the pertinent UN Security Council resolutions in light of increasing tension between Iraq and the United Nations,” Attiya said. The regular meeting comes amid “the increasing intensity of US threats to launch a (military) strike against Iraq and the GCC opposition to such policies because of their negative and dangerous consequences on the security and stability of the region,” Attiya added.
“The foreign ministers will give special focus to the developments in the Palestinian territories and the suffering of the Palestinian people as a result of continued Israeli terrorism.”
The GCC groups Saudi Arabia Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, and the United Arab Emirates who have individually expressed opposition to a new war on Iraq. Attiya said the meeting will also tackle relations with Iran in light of visits by GCC officials to Tehran and an expected visit by Iranian President Mohammed Khatami to the UAE. On the internal front, the ministers will review military and media cooperation in addition to reviewing a number of ideas expressed by Prince Abdullah, the regent, to accelerate cooperation in all fields, the statement said.
