GCC communique misstates name of task force

Manama: The communiqué issued at the end of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) summit in Kuwait on Tuesday has made a mistake by misstating the name of the naval task force of which Bahrain is a member.

“The GCC Supreme Council expressed satisfaction with the laudable efforts exerted by Bahrain’s armed forces within the international task forces CTF 150,” the communiqué said.

However, Bahrain is not part of Command Task Force CTF 150, a force that operates in the Gulf of Aden, Gulf of Oman, Arabian Sea, Red Sea and the Indian Ocean, but is an active member of CTF 152, responsible for security operations in the central and southern Arabian Gulf.

CTF 152, established in 2004, is currently under the command of the UAE after Navy Staff Colonel Tariq Khalfan Al Zaabi relieved Royal Navy Commodore Tim Lowe on November 9 as commander of the task force.

Bahrain on March 4, 2008 became the first Gulf nation to command CTF 152, after Royal Bahrain Navy Brigadier General Abdullah Saeed Al Mansoori took over from US Navy Rear Adm. Bill Gortney.

Three months later, marking the end of the rotational command, Al Mansoori passed it on to Royal Navy Commodore Peter Hudson

Under Al Mansoori's command, CTF 152 built a network of mutual trust and respect between regional navies and the mariners who use the Arabian Gulf and led one operation and two exercises.

Operation Stake Net focused on protecting major economic infrastructure in the central and southern Arabian Gulf, while Exercise Goalkeeper II and III helped enhance regional security.

Al Mansoori was in August presented the Legion of Merit on behalf of US Secretary of Defense Robert Gates in recognition of his leadership of CTF 152.

CTF 150 is a multinational naval task force with logistics facilities in Djibouti. It has warships from coalition nations that include Canada, Denmark, France, Germany, Pakistan, the UK and the US.

Other nations who have participated include Australia, Italy, Netherlands, New Zealand, Portugal, Singapore, Spain, and Turkey.