Bahrain PM reiterates full support to Gulf union

Manama: Bahrain’s Prime Minister Prince Khalifa Bin Salman Al Khalifa has reiterated his full support to implement the Saudi king’s call to the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) states to move into a union.

The current challenges to the region make the union between the Arabian Gulf states a crucial necessity that should not be postponed, Prince Khalifa said on Monday in Manama where he was receiving media people, intellectuals, members of the business community and religious figures.

King Abdullah Bin Abdul Aziz in December 2011 called upon the GCC states to move from the phase of cooperation to the phase of union within a single entity.

The GCC, made up of Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the UAE, was established in 1981 in Abu Dhabi.

King Abdullah’s call was welcomed by the six member states, but some of them requested more time to study the finer details.

Officials in Riyadh and Manama in particular have been openly enthusiastic about the union and King Hamad Bin Eisa Al Khalifa said in his address to Bahrainis on the kingdom’s national day last week that the country was ready to join the union and that he was looking forward to the special GCC summit to announce the union.

Observers said that some of the GCC countries could set up a core union of some of the six member states and that the other members could join at their own pace.

On December 7, Yousuf Bin Alawi Bin Abdullah, the Omani Minister Responsible for Foreign Affairs, said at the Manama Dialogue that his country rejected the Gulf union. The Omani minister said there was another side to the move and that his country did not support the union.

He issued his statement three days before the GCC leaders were scheduled to hold their summit in Kuwait City.

He was reacting to statements by the Saudi deputy foreign minister that the union was not a luxury and that the GCC states needed to move in quickly to thwart dangers and confront challenges.

Prince Khalifa has been one of the most enthusiastic leaders in the region to support the Gulf union.

At the meeting, he warned against the conspiracies targeting the Arab countries, saying that they succeeded in some of the Arab states.

The Premier said he had full confidence in the Arab nation, stressing that it was not short of outstanding minds, experiences and expertise.