RIYADH, 12 June 2005 — The six-member Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) yesterday denounced all terrorist activities in Iraq targeting its civilians and military personnel and humanitarian and religious organizations as well as the kidnapping and torture of innocent people in the war-torn country.
GCC foreign ministers meeting here also supported all efforts aimed at achieving Iraqi national reconciliation as well as participation of all Iraqi factions in the country’s political process in order to protect its unity, independence and sovereignty.
Sheikh Muhammad ibn Mubarak Al-Khalifa of Bahrain, who chaired the meeting, denied reports that a tripartite panel comprising Kuwait, Oman and the UAE had been set up to settle disputes between the member states. However, he said the six-member body would support any effort to strengthen GCC unity. “The meeting did not discuss the Iranian proposal to establish an Islamic Middle East,” he told reporters.
GCC Secretary-General Abdul Rahman Al-Attiyah said the one-day meeting called upon all Iraqis to stand united against forces trying to undermine the country’s security and stability. The ministers also called for non-interference in Iraq’s internal matters. They renewed their condemnation of the deliberate mass killing of Iraqis and other POWs by the former Iraqi regime.
The ministers also urged the Israeli government to stop its aggressive practices against the Palestinian people and called on Tel Aviv to implement the land-for-peace formula and reach a comprehensive peace settlement in the Middle East.
The meeting called upon the United States, Russia, the European Union and the United Nations to revive the peace road map and the Arab peace plan. They also emphasized that Israel must join the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty as part of efforts to make the region free of weapons of mass destruction.
The ministers from Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman and the United Arab Emirates urged the international community to strengthen cooperation to combat terrorism, “which has taken new dimensions threatening world peace and stability.”
Attiyah said the meeting supported the resolutions taken by the international counterterrorism conference held in Riyadh last February, especially Crown Prince Abdullah’s proposal to establish an international center to combat terror.
It said the center would support international efforts to combat terror in an effective manner.
The ministers emphasized the need for strengthening GCC unity in order to confront foreign challenges, a final communiqué said. “They also discussed matters related to GCC customs union, common market, monetary union and GCC-EU negotiations and took necessary decisions,” it added.
Attiyah said the meeting allowed GCC citizens to run employment offices, car rentals and most cultural activities in member countries beginning September 2005.
The ministers expressed their happiness over the measures taken to implement the multipurpose smart IDs to facilitate travel of GCC citizens between the member states.
The meeting congratulated Qatari Emir Sheikh Hamad on the implementation of a permanent constitution for the country.
