KUWAIT CITY, 5 October 2004 — Defense ministers of Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) states met here yesterday to review the bloc’s defense strategies and prospects of bolstering a joint force.
Kuwait’s Defense Minister Sheikh Jaber Al-Mubarak Al-Sabah opened the meeting by backing efforts to “build defense strategies for our states ... and to achieve capability and readiness to repulse any (external) aggression”.
The minister also called for “bolstering the Peninsula Shield to become a protective defense for our countries in these delicate conditions in our region”.
GCC Secretary General Abdul Rahman Al-Attiyah said that the pace of military cooperation between members of the six-nation alliance would accelerate.
He said the ministers would review several issues including the 5,000-strong Peninsula Shield joint force, safe communications and a cooperation belt.
The GCC has since 1986 had the joint force stationed at Hafr Al-Batin in northeastern Saudi Arabia, near the border with Iraq.
Member states of the bloc have been discussing plans to bolster the number of men to some 22,000.
Part of the force was moved to Kuwait last year during the US-led invasion of Iraq.
The GCC partners have signed a joint defense pact that requires member states to defend each other in case of external aggression.
They have also set up a joint defense council to oversee the implementation of the pact. Yesterday’s meeting was the council’s annual gathering, which is held at the level of defense ministers.
