Abu Dhabi Crown Prince and Deputy Supreme Commander of the UAE Armed Forces His Highness Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan will lead the UAE delegation to the consultative summit of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), to be held on Monday in Manama.

The summit, the third to be held by the leaders of the six-member council, will discuss a number of economic and security issues, aimed at enhancing the GCC march towards the realisation of its objectives, in addition to latest developments on the Gulf, Arab and international scenes.

GCC Secretary-General, Sheikh Jamil Al Hujailan, is expected to give a brief report on issues and developments in the GCC since the 22nd session of the Council held in Manama late in December, last year.

The third consultative summit comes at a time fraternal relation have been strengthened between member states after the resolution of border disputes in a cordial manner, giving much regards to joint Gulf work to achieve the socio-economic ambitions of the Gulf peoples and the generations to come.

Both Qatar and Bahrain announced on March 16, 2001 their acceptance, without any reservation, of the judgement passed by the International Court of Justice, in resolution of their border dispute, which the two countries reiterated had become 'a history of the past'.

The two countries also announced the resumption to work of their joint higher committee and thanked President His Highness Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan for his unstinting efforts to narrow the gap of misunderstanding between the leaders of the two neighbouring countries, which led to the peaceful resolution of the issue.

In July last year, Saudi Arabia and Kuwait signed in Kuwait an agreement to demarcate their sea border. Saudi Arabia and Qatar also signed a border demarcation agreement on March 21, this year, while the UAE and Oman took a bold step in May 1999 to sign an agreement demarcating their border at Umm Zumul, where the borders of the UAE, Oman and Saudi Arabia meet.

Sheikh Khalifa reiterated that the consultation summit reflects the commitment of GCC leaders to the cooperation and joint work policy on which the GCC stands.