Manama: Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) interior ministers on Wednesday endorsed a recommendation to set up a Gulf police (GCCPOL).
The ministers also agreed at their meeting in Kuwait, the chair of the current GCC session, to set up a permanent GCC bureau at the United Nations in the Austrian capital Vienna led by Oman, Bahraini and Kuwaiti media reported.
The GCCPOL will be headquartered in the UAE capital Abu Dhabi, the ministers agreed.
“Providing security and preserving the stability of nations is primarily the responsibility of security people,” Shaikh Mohammad Al Khalid, the Kuwaiti interior minister, was quoted as saying at the meeting.
“The citizens of the GCC are looking forward to both the security and stability as the region is witnessing changes and challenges that could have a negative impact on their countries,” he said.
GCC Secretary General Abdul Lateef Al Zayani said that the GCC interior ministers had stressed “the determination of the GCC states to combat terrorism and to uproot its causes in order to protect the GCC societies from its negative impact on their security and stability.”
“The ministers expressed their satisfaction with the security efforts deployed in the GCC countries to combat crimes, arrest criminals and protect GCC societies,” he said in a statement following the meeting.
“The ministers have also stressed that collective action was need to strengthen security and stability,” he added.
Five of the GCC states — Bahrain, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the UAE — have endorsed a Gulf security pact to boost their cooperation. Only Kuwait has yet to ratify the pact amid strong opposition from some of its lawmakers who said that some of its provisions clashed with the text and spirit of the constitution.
