RIYADH: Foreign ministers of the six-nation Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) offered full support to Kuwait on its dispute with Iraq over the 1991 war reparations and border demarcation, while they called on Iran to undertake confidence-building measures to promote peace and stability in the region.
The GCC ministers also pledged to support the efforts of the Yemeni government, which has called for a dialogue with protesters to ensure peace, stability and territorial integrity of Yemen.
The GCC and Yemeni foreign ministers, who held a joint meeting here, also emphasized the need for strengthening security in south Yemen, where two people were killed and four wounded in fresh clashes between security forces and protesters yesterday.
Speaking to reporters after a closed-door meeting of foreign ministers, Omani Foreign Minister Yousef bin Alawi said the GCC recognized Iran’s right to nuclear research for peaceful purposes within the framework of the international law.
The GCC also welcomed the “ongoing consultations between Iran and Western countries in this regard,” said the Omani minister.
Addressing a press conference after the meeting, GCC Secretary-General Abdulrahman Al-Attiyah noted the “positive trends” in the new US administration’s policy on the Israeli-Arab conflict, and said the GCC supported President Barack Obama’s commitment to a two-state solution. He called on the Israeli government to commit to a two-state solution, based on the Arab peace initiative, international resolutions and the principle of land for peace.
Al-Attiyah demanded the Israeli government’s full withdrawal from all occupied Palestinian territories. He called on the United States, Russia, the European Union and the United Nations to pressure Israel to “abide by international resolutions and abandon its intransigence and arrogance.”
“The GCC foreign ministers also discussed plans and programs that are essential components for admission of Yemen into the Gulf bloc,” said Al-Attiyah.
The foreign ministers, who welcomed the invitation to hold the next GCC Ministerial Council meeting in Sanaa during the first quarter of 2010, renewed their commitments to support the development projects in Yemen.
Al-Attiyah said Gulf states have already allocated $3.2 billion out of the pledged amount of $3.5 billion to execute development projects in Yemen.
The GCC ministers and Yemeni Foreign Minister Abu Bakr Al-Qarubi issued a joint statement after their fourth meeting.
