JEDDAH, 7 May 2006 — Saudi Arabia and Oman yesterday signed a landmark agreement which allows their citizens to visit each other using national ID cards instead of passports, the Saudi Press Agency said.
GCC Secretary-General Abdul Rahman Al-Attiya welcomed the move and hoped that other GCC member countries would soon follow the suit in order to strengthen GCC relations.
Maj. Gen. Salim ibn Muhammad Al-Belaihed, director general of the Passport Department, signed the agreement with his Omani counterpart, Col. Aamir ibn Saeed Al-Hajari at GCC headquarters in Riyadh in the presence of Al-Attiya.
“This agreement represents the experimental phase of a program that aims at facilitating movement of GCC citizens between the member states using their IDs,” SPA quoted Al-Attiya as saying. The accord also reflects the strong relations between the Kingdom and the Sultanate.
The GCC chief said the use of ID cards by GCC citizens for traveling between member countries would strengthen social and economic cooperation. The GCC members are Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Bahrain, Oman, Kuwait and the United Arab Emirates.
Al-Belaihed said the agreement would come into effect after 30 days. “There will be no restrictions as people of all age groups can travel using their IDs,” he added.
The UAE plans to introduce the same facility for GCC citizens coming to the emirates from other member states. According to a report carried by AME Info website, the move was to be implemented from Jan. 12, 2005 but Saudis who recently returned from the UAE said they had to submit their passports to enter the country.
Plans are also under way to issue a unified GCC identity card. The new electronic card will use smart card technology with common security features, applications and accessing devices. The main feature of the card, which will have both the GCC and the member country’s logos, is the “interoperability,” making its features readable in all member states.
