GCC' s biannual summit Wednesday in Riyadh
Gulf, Politics, 5/20/2003

The Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) member states will convene their biannual meeting on Wednesday in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, during which the participants will discuss the situation in Iraq, the Palestinian- Israeli conflict and terrorism.

GCC secretary general Abdul Rahman al-Ateyah said that the summit has no certain agenda but it is expected to concentrate on the situation in Iraq following the collapse Saddam Hussein's regime and the Palestinian- Israeli conflict as well as the progress in the GCC which has started the implementation of its customs Union and using a common currency.

Al-Ateyah added that the leaders of the GCC six member states "will stress the need of accelerating efforts to form a provisional Iraqi government and to concentrate on Iraq's unity." He added that "the leaders will renew the declared Gulf position which rejects terrorism and condemns it in all its form."

The GCC which was established in 1981 and includes Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Qatar, Bahrain, Oman and Kuwait holds two annual summits. One is consultation in the mid of the year and the second is ordinary in which decisions are taken by the end of the year.

However, the Riyadh summit is considered the fifth of its kind following that held in Jeddah ( 1999 and 2002 ) Muscat ( 2002), Manama ( 2001 ). The GCC recent ordinary summit was held in Doha by the end of December 2002 at the end of which the GCC member states declared a customs union among that started in 2003 and a single currency to be adopted by the fall of 2005.

This GCC summit is held at a time while vagueness still overwhelms Iraq's political issue, terrorist attacks in Riyadh that targeted residential complexes for foreigners on May 12 attributed to al-Qaeda organization and resulted in killing 34 persons.

Previous Stories:
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