GCC foreign ministers discuss Qatari vision

Doha: The Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) foreign ministers will meet in Doha Tuesday to review ways to reinvigorate joint action in various economic, social, military and security areas, Qatari sources said.

The meeting, upon an invitation from Qatar's prime minister and foreign minister Shaikh Hamad Bin Jassem Al Thani, will focus on the Qatari vision to enhance Gulf cooperation presented by the Qatari Amir to the GCC leaders in May. GCC ministerial committees were requested to study it and to submit suggestions and recommendations, the sources said.

According to GCC Secretary General Abdul Rahman Al Atiyyah, the Qatari vision came at a critical time and reflected the Qatari leadership's keen interest in supporting joint GCC action.

The foreign minister's meeting is taking place more than one month ahead of the 30th summit in Kuwait.

Al Atiyyah said that the GCC-wide electricity grid, considered a major part of the solution to the region’s power problems, would be high on the summit agenda.

"The electricity interconnection within the six member states of the GCC will be at the top of the agenda to reinforce joint action. This project will have numerous advantages and benefits," Al Atiyyah said. "The rail link between the Gulf states will also be on the agenda and we hope that the member states will ratify the monetary union," Al Atiyyah said, quoted by the Qatari News Agency.

Politically, the 30th summit on December 14 will review the situation in Palestine and the efforts to achieve peace and stability in the region. The leaders will also discuss relations with Iran and its continued occupation of the three UAE islands as well as developments in Iraq, Lebanon, Sudan and Somalia, Al Atiyyah said.

Decisions and recommendations by the GCC defence and interior ministers, including enhancing the capabilities of the Peninsula Shield and coordination on military training and war games and on combating terrorism, will also be taken up at the summit, he said.

The GCC secretary general said that the special regional, Arab and international political, economic and security conditions required that the Gulf states adopt a common stance.

The summit's final agenda will be prepared by the GCC foreign ministers at a meeting on November 17 in Kuwait.

The ministers will reconvene in Kuwait City one day before the summit to fine tune the details of the agenda and the draft of the final communiqué.

Kuwait hosted the 24th GCC summit in December 2003.