Riyadh: The 15th GCC Consultative Summit chaired by SAudi King Salman Bin Abdul Aziz Al Saud of Saudi Arabia, concluded on Tuesday in the Saudi capital, Riyadh.
His Highness Shaikh Mohammad Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, led the UAE delegation to the summit, attended by French President Francois Hollande as a guest of honour.
The GCC Secretary-General Abdul Latif Al Zayani delivered the inaugural speech. Welcoming the French President, Al Zayani referred to the pivotal role of France in ensuring stability in the region and his positive stance towards "our regional issues."
"We are looking forward to strengthening the bonds between our countries with France in all fields," Al Zayani added.
"This summit is being convened today amid a difficult situation and critical challenges being experienced by our region. They require us to redouble efforts so as to preserve the gains of our peoples and countries and ward off risks to the Arab region posed by external ambitions, which are aimed at expanding influence and hegemony through destabilisation of the region's security and stability and sowing sectarian strife, as well as creating a fertile environment for extremism and terrorism," he said.
Al Zayani noted that the Arab coalition's action came in response to the appeal from the legitimate authority in Yemen, made out of a desire for self-defence, following the refusal of coup leaders to comply with the GCC's and international appeals to spare the dear people of Yemen from sliding into chaos and infighting.
As the Operation Decisive Storm achieved its purposes, he continued, "We are looking forward to Operation Restore Hope to bring together all Yemeni parties to a dialogue in accordance with the GCC initiative, its executive mechanism and the outputs of the Yemeni national dialogue, and through full compliance with a UN Security Council resolution.
Operation Restore Hope also seeks to accelerate the implementation of the resolution so that the people of Yemen enjoy security and stability."
He added that the GCC states welcomed the proposed Riyadh conference for all Yemeni parties wishing to restore Yemen's security and stability under the umbrella of the GCC initiative.
Al Zayani stressed that the GCC backs humanitarian and relief efforts in Yemen. "We declare the establishment of humanitarian relief centre, which will be based in Riyadh," he said, hoping that the UN would participate actively in the efforts of the centre by coordinating all humanitarian and relief work for the people of Yemen in collaboration with the sponsors of the GCC initiative."
"Regarding the current situation experienced by the people of Yemen, we have issued our directives to correct illegal residency status of Yemenis in Saudi Arabia by allowing them to work in order to ease the burden on them, and enable them to earn a living with dignity. We will continue to support the sisterly country of Yemen with all possible ways until it overcomes the crisis and resumes its active role in the Arab world," he added.
Al Zayani said the GCC urges the international community, especially the group of 5+1, to shoulder its serious responsibility by setting strict rules to ensure preservation of the region's security and stability, and "to prevent an arms race in the region, which would only be at the expense of development process and prosperity of the people of the region."
He added that the summit hopes to meet the aspirations of the region to be more coherent and integrated so as to enhance the GCC joint action and achieve the goals of the GCC in ensuring integration and unity.
French President thanked the King of Saudi Arabia and and GCC leaders and delegations for inviting him to attend the summit as a guest of honour of the 15th GCC Consultative Summit.
He added that when the GCC was set up in 1981, it was to tackle the danger posed by the Iraq-Iran war. "Today you are facing new challenges related to the terrorist groups such as Daesh (ISIL) and al-Qaeda, as well as other challenges in a number of neighbouring countries, including Yemen."
The French President said the King of Saudi Arabia "reminded us about risks posed by ambitions of some countries, which interfere in others' affairs." To deal with these crisis, he continued, "You launched a number of initiatives regarding Syria and a declaration to form the Arab Force."
He noted that France backs Operation Decisive Storm, which has been turned into Operation Restore Hope in order to restore stability to Yemen, adding that ensuring the security of neighbouring countries bolsters the safety and security of the region.
"There are threats facing the GCC and France. Therefore, I would like to reiterate France's commitment to stand by your side and support you not only as a friend and ally, but because defending your interests also means we defend ourselves."
The French president said France agrees with Saudi Arabia to strengthen the defence ties between the two countries, adding that on Tuesday in Qatar, similar issues were touched upon. He underscored that France is a trustworthy ally.
He said that France did not spare any effort to bring together the moderate Syrian opposition for the sake of Syria's future and peace.
Hollande said, "We are partners and will remain partners," citing the fact of existing Iraqi alliance to combat Daesh terrorist group. Furthermore, "we call for reconciliation among all the Iraqi parties. And we also work to reach a peace deal in Libya under the sponsorship of the UN to restore stability there."
He added that France backs the legitimacy in Yemen in accordance with the UN Security Council resolution No. 2216, noting that it has to be implemented to back the legitimate President of Yemen and achieve reconciliation there. Hollande welcomed the Saudi proposal to host a conference on Yemen.
On Iran, Hollande said the ongoing talks about the Iranian nuclear issue "deserve our care and vigilance. France does so. And we want a strong, sustainable and viable agreement. Iran should undertake that it will not access nuclear weapons. The Lausanne agreement is only an interim agreement and just a step on the road, which is still long. We want to have a full and complete transparency."
About the sanctions on Iran, the French President said, "We support the lifting of sanctions gradually, and we must remain attentive to the actions of Iran. The deal, which we will reach, should not cause or lead to the destabilisation of countries in this region. The arms embargo on Iran must be kept in place. We want to judge Iran by its actions and not words."