Gulf | Bahrain
Kuwait not keen on expanding GCC membership
Kuwait is not keen on expanding Gulf Cooperation Council membership and wants to limit it to the current six states, a senior Kuwaiti official said on Sunday.
- By Habib Toumi, Bureau Chief
- Published: 00:21 February 4, 2008
Manama: Kuwait is not keen on expanding Gulf Cooperation Council membership and wants to limit it to the current six states, a senior Kuwaiti official said on Sunday.
Shaikh Mohammad Sabah Al Salem Al Sabah, Kuwait's Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister, said on Sunday that his country did not want the alliance of the Arab Gulf states, formed in 1981, to replace the Arab League. "In Kuwait, we believe that if we open the GCC to other countries, we will end up with 22 members joining.
"The GCC, because of its resounding success and outstanding achievements, will then replace the Arab League, and this is not acceptable," he said in Manama where he co-chaired the Bahraini-Kuwaiti higher committee meeting.
"The GCC is not an exclusive club, but the six countries share an identity and can work together to support the Arab League, just like there are other regional groups, such as the Maghreb Union, that could do so," he said in response to a question about Kuwait's stance on Yemen's attempt to join the bloc.
However, he did not name Yemen. Despite huge economic and social challenges, Yemen has been vying to join the GCC states as the seventh member in their alliance.
Its participation in some sport, health and social activities by the GCC has given for a while the impression that full membership might not be distant.
However, the accession has been resisted by some of the member countries on the grounds of huge differences in the political, economic and social areas.
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