A meeting for EU, GCC foreign ministers

Originally published February 19, 2002

The foreign ministers of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) member states will hold a meeting in Madrid on February 28th with their counterparts at the European Union.

It is however, decided that the two sides will discuss the deteriorated conditions in the occupied Palestinian territories as a result of the Israeli escalation and the aggressive policy purused by Israel as well as the policy of economic siege imposed on the Palestinian territories, besides preventing the chairman of the Palestinian Authority Yasser Arafat from leaving his headquarters.

The two sides will also discuss the efforts made to safeguard the ME peace process and means of signing the free trade agreement between the EU and the GCC member states.