Saudi crown prince is absent from Gulf summit

The Saudi royal court ( Divan) announced in a statement that the defense minister prince Salman Bin Abdul Aziz will chair the delegation of the Kingdom to the summit of the Gulf Cooperation Council which will open deliberations in Bahrain on Monday and Tuesday.

The statement said that "prince Sultan will head on Monday to Bahrain to preside over the delegation of the kingdom to the GCC 25th summit on behalf of the Saudi King Fahd Bin Abdul Aziz." The Saudi announcement was made in confirmation of a statement made by one Gulf official earlier to that Crown Prince Abdullah Bin Abdul Aziz, who runs the affairs of the kingdom because of the health conditions of King Fahd, will not take part in the summit.

The minister gave no additional explanations on the nature of these topics or decisions, the ministers agreed to submit to the GCC leaders in their summit today. He stressed that there is an agreement among all states on the agenda and a consensus on all issues.

The minister explained that the GCC common market, the increasing of incoming labor, the Monetary Union and the united smart card will be on tops of issues to be discussed.

Events of the summit is expected to be overwhelmed by the Bahraini- Saudi summit on the American- Bahraini agreement as well as the reflections of the political and security situation in Iraq, security issues, terrorism and peace in the Middle East.

The GCC foreign ministers started on Sunday a meeting in Manama to draw the final touches on the summit's agenda.