Doha: Abdullah Bin Hamad Al Thani, the recently appointed deputy ruler of Qatar, heard an earful as he inaugurated the third Conference of Arab Research Centres held under the title “The GCC Countries: Politics and Economics in Light of Regional and International Shifts and Changes.”
In a rare and frank assessment, the former GCC Secretary-General Abdul Rahman Bin Hamad Al Attiyah asserted that while the GCC was established in response to the security challenges the region faced in the late seventies and early eighties--led by the Iranian Revolution and the Iraq-Iran--although, in 2014, serious internal challenges required utmost attention.
Al Attiyah identified eight challenges, of which the most dangerous was terrorism, because it purported to import sectarianism. He added that GCC states were not immune to the consequences of what occurred elsewhere throughout the Arab world, even if the tools to deal with these were limited. Towards that end, he called on member-states to look closely at this question, and not compromise.
The former high-ranking official also focused on developments in Yemen and the role that Al Houthi tribes played during the transitional phase. This conflict, he asserted, “was the best proof that GCC countries cannot consider themselves immune to the threat of terrorism.”
It was interesting to note that the UN Special envoy to Yemen, Jamal Bin Omar, was sitting in the audience and paid close attention.
The former GCC Secretary-General added that the second threat facing the region was that of labour and affirmed that while local societies lacked the necessary skills and experiences to fill demand, he was pleased to note that the recent agreement signed in Kuwait between GCC members and 12 labour-exporting countries was a major step towards achieving more rights for labour workers in the region.
Al Attiyah spoke about identity, unemployment, economic cooperation, concerns about Union, the application of GCC rules already approved, political reforms, and the necessity to reduce intra-GCC disputes.
On Saturday evening, and in addition to the deputy ruler, the Qatari Prime Minister, Abdullah Bin Nasser Bin Khalifa Al Thani, and the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Dr. Khalid Bin Mohammad Al Attiyah, listened to a panel of scholars who presented a full spectrum of issues and concerns that preoccupied Gulf populations.
Abdullah Baaboud, Mohammad Ghanem Al Rumaihi, Anwar Majid Eshki, Baqer Al Najjar, and Fatima Al Sayegh, all established Gulf scholars, touched upon a variety of concerns regarding Union, focusing on the UAE model as an ideal paradigm. What was necessary, most affirmed, was the adoption of a supra-national constitution that could forge closer ties among the peoples of the area who wished to live in a federal system that would protect everyone.
