Gulf nations to meet to discuss UAE island

Dubai: Foreign ministers of the six Gulf countries are to hold a special meeting in Riyadh after Iran's president visited the UAE island of Abu Mousa, a UAE official said on Friday.

Wednesday's Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) meeting in the Saudi capital comes at the request of the UAE, which recalled its envoy to Tehran on Thursday after Mahmoud Ahmadinejad went to the occupied island of Abu Mousa, the official said.

Abu Dhabi pulled out envoy Saif Mohammad Obaid Al Za'abi "for consultations" a day after denouncing Ahmadinejad's trip as a "flagrant violation of UAE sovereignty over its territories."

The UAE press on Friday slammed Ahmadinejad's visit.

GCC chief Abdul Latif Al Zayani condemned Ahmadinejad's visit as "a clear violation of UAE sovereignty" and "not in line with the GCC policy of maintaining good neighbourly relations with Iran."