GCC summit to concentrate on Mideast situation

26/05/2002| IslamWeb

A Gulf leaders summit in Saudi Arabia will discuss the Mideast crisis and a peace initiative endorsed during an Arab summit in Lebanon, the secretary-general of the Gulf Cooperation Council said Saturday. Abdulrahman al-Attiyah said in a statement that the leaders are also expected to discuss ways to boost cooperation within the six-member council, which was formed in 1981.

The one-day summit will be held on Sunday in the Saudi Red Sea city of Jiddah.

In March, the 22-member Arab League endorsed a peace initiative proposed by Saudi Crown Prince Abdullah calling on Israel to withdraw from land occupied during the 1967 Mideast war in return for normal relations with Arab states.

Earlier this month, Abdullah, Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak and Syrian President Bashar Assad, called in the Egyptian Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheik for a negotiated solution and an end to all forms of Israel-Palestinian violence that has raged for 19 months.

The GCC groups Bahrain, Kuwait, Qatar, Oman, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.

PHOTO CAPTION

HH the Emir of Qatar, SH Hamad Ben Khalifa Al-Thani participating in the biannual GCC summit convening Sunday in Jeddah in Saudi Arabia.