Leaders fail to resolve row over unilateral trade pacts

Gulf leaders concluded their annual summit here without resolving a row over unilateral trade agreements that had cast a shadow over the meeting, Bahrain said yesterday.

But the summit, which will be held in the UAE next year, backed Iraq's elections next month and urged the US to make the Middle East peace process its "top priority" in the region.

The issue of the unilateral agreements between Gulf states and outside-GCC parties was "discussed and analysed thoroughly" by the leaders during the two-day summit, Bahrain's Foreign Minister, Shaikh Mohammad Bin Mubarak Al Khalifa said in a press conference after the meeting.

"However, the leaders chose to continue discussing the matter in future meetings. They thought they needed more time to make a decision on the issue," he said.

The issue revolves around objections by Saudi Arabia to other countries, mainly the host country Bahrain, signing unilateral free trade agreements with the United States.

Shaikh Mohammad acknowledged there was "a disagreement" between Saudi Arabia and its GCC partners, but that was "normal."

He said the summit, named after the late Shaikh Zayed Bin Sultan Al Nah-yan, was "successful and fruitful."

"It has focused on two parts; the joint action of the GCC and the organisation's relations with the outside world," he said.

On the first part, the summit's final communiqué said the leaders approved a plan to extend the employment insurance scheme to Gulf nationals who work in other states within the GCC.

They also directed relevant bodies to finalise studies of the GCC railway project and a project to link the six states with a water grid.

The two decisions are "essential to consolidating our countries' integration" socially and economically, Shaikh Mohammad said.

The summit discussed a plan to address the issue of the foreign workforce in the Gulf, according to the communiqué. The Bahraini minister said labour minister have been directed to present "a joint plan".

"It is an issue that concerns everyone in this region. It affects the development process of our countries," he said.

Bahrain's Labour and Social Affairs Minister, Majeed Al Alawi, said this week that Manama had proposed a limit of five years on the period an expatriate worker can stay in a Gulf country.

Shaikh Mohammad said the summit also focused on the issue of terrorism, and condemned the recent attack on the US consulate in Jeddah.

"The council reiterates its condemnation and denunciation of all sorts of terrorism, and whatever its sources, motives and justifications are," the final statement said.

It said the GCC was committed to "combat the phenomenon of terrorism and its finance in all possible means, locally, regionally and internationally."

But it said the council "distinguished between terrorism and the right of all peoples to resist occupation according to international laws."

"Gulf states rally behind Saudi Arabia in its fight against the threat of militants," it said.

It also condemned terrorist attacks against civilians in Iraq. The attacks prolong the suffering of the Iraqi people and disrupt the rebuilding of the war-torn nation, it said.

"The council condemns the terrorist bombings of civilians and humanitarian and religious institutions and the kidnapping of civilians [in Iraq]," the statement read.

The summit backed the January 30 date of the elections and hoped that all Iraqis would take part in them Shaikh Mohammad said.

"The leaders urge the US administration to work with the UN and the international community to exert all possible efforts to help all segments of Iraqi society to take part in the political process," he said.

The summit also urged US President George Bush to make the Middle East process "his top foreign policy priority in his second term in the presidency," the final statement said, "in order to fulfill the promise of establishing a viable Palestinian state that would live in peace and security side by side with the state of Israel."

However, the leaders criticised "the on-going Israeli aggression against the Palestinian people and [Israel's] continuous disregard of international laws and Arab initiatives."

Finally, the summit called for a Middle East, including the Gulf, free of weapons of mass destruction.

"The council urges the international community to exert pressure on Israel to join the international anti nuclear proliferation treaties and put its nuclear sites under the inspection system," the final communiqué said.

The communique - main points