December 29, 2006

THE CUSTODIAN OF THE TWO HOLY MOSQUES AT THE GCC SUMMIT: THE REGION IS BELEAGUERED WITH DANGERS, MAKING IT LOOK LIKE A POWDER KEG AWAITING AN EXPLODING SPARK. KING ABDULLAH BIN ABDUL AZIZ WARNS THE PALESTINIAN BROTHERS OF THE DANGEROUS DIFFERENCES BETWEEN THEM, THE LEBANESE OF A NEW SLIDE TO THE NIGHTMARE OF INAUSPICIOUS DISPUTE AND THE IRAQIS OF THE CRAZY DISPUTE AMONGST BROTHERS. LEADERS OF THE GCC STRESS THE IMPORTANCE OF FACING THE CHALLENGES. PRINCE SAUD AL-FAISAL: THE GCC COUNTRIES DO NOT SEEK THROUGH NUCLEAR TECHNOLOGY TO DOMINATE OR THREATEN ANY OTHER PARTY BUT SEEK BRINGING ABOUT STABILITY. The Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah Bin Abdul Aziz Al Saud opened at Al-Dareya palace in Riyadh the 27th session of the supreme council of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC ) "Jaber Summit". The inaugural ceremony was opened with a recitation of verses from the Holy Quran. Addressing the summit, the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah Bin Abdul Aziz welcomed, on his own behalf and the Saudi people, the GCC leaders to their second country, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, praying to Almighty Allah to crown this summit with success to come out with concrete outcomes for the glory and strength of our gulf, Arab and Muslim nations. The Monarch expressed his best thanks to President Sheikh Khalifa Bin Zayid Al Nahyan of the United Arab Emirates for his wisdom during his presidency of the previous summit, wishing him all success. As this summit is the first meeting, after the death of late Sheikh Jaber Al-Ahmed Al-Sabah, the Emir of Kuwait, May Allah bless his soul, we call this summit after him for his efforts in the service of gulf cooperation, the King noted. The Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques said,'' this annual meeting is a chance for reviewing what we have achieved and have not achieved for some reasons last year. Considering the review with the measurement of the political situation and with the criterion of what is possible, we have achieved good accomplishments politically and economically. But when the review is measured by ambitions of our peoples and the criterion of what is necessary for this era, we conclude that our achievements have been still humble and far from our peoples' aspirations. Review does not mean despair or disappointment, but, on the contrary, it renews and strengthens our determination and resolution. All dreams that seem impossible today might be goals available at our hands tomorrow and will be achieved by sincere intentions and efforts. The Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques stated that our region is beleaguered with dangers, making it look like a powder keg awaiting an exploding spark. Dear Palestine is our basic issue which is lying between a detested aggressive occupation fearful of nobody, a world community which looks to the bloody tragedy as a bystander and a dangerous differences among the Palestinian brothers, the King said. In brotherly Iraq, brothers are still killing each other, pushing the beloved country to the verge of a darkness of sedition, and crazy dispute, he said, adding that in the lovely Lebanon, we see dark clouds threatening the unity of the country and warning of a new slide to the nightmare of inauspicious dispute among the sons of the one nation. King Abdullah Bin Abdul Aziz said that in our gulf region, a number of issues are still pending action and ambiguity is still marring some policies and orientations. Amid such problems, we have no way out but to make a one solid rank and have one voice that reflects the view of all the Arab Gulf region, he added. With this one stand and one voice, we could assist our brothers in Palestine, Iraq and Lebanon and provide support for our Arab and Islamic nation everywhere, the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques said. The King added that when we speak about the economic integration, we find that we have made great strides but we are still a long way from achieving the complete economic unity and away from the situation where a GCC citizen receives the same treatment everywhere in the gulf as if he is at home. The Monarch said real obstacles remain blocking the road and I would not play down their size and importance. The reservations that derailed the march came from almost each member country, rather than particular one or two member states, he said. The dream of the economic unity should never be forgotten for a while as without it we are tiny entities that could be subject to the effect of others rather than contribute to affecting them and with unity, we remain a force that could never be neglected, the king concluded, wishing the meeting every success. In his speech, the Emir of Kuwait Sheikh Sabah Al Ahmed Al Jaber Al Sabah expressed his appreciation of and thanks to the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah Bin Abdul Aziz for calling the current session as Jaber Summit. Then the GCC leaders held a closed-door session. The kingdom's delegation to the summit includes Crown Prince Sultan Bin Abdul Aziz. Deputy Premier, Minister of Defense and Aviation and Inspector General; Prince Miteb Bin Abdul Aziz, Minister of Municipal and Rural Affairs; Prince Naif Bin Abdul Aziz, the Minister of Interior; Prince Salman Bin Abdul Aziz, the Governor of Riyadh Region; Prince Saud Al-Faisal, the Foreign Minister; Dr. Ghazi Al-Gosaibi, the Minister of Labor; Dr. Ibrahim Al-Assaf, the Finance Minister and Iyad Bin Amin Madani, the Minister of Culture and Information. On the other hand following the end of the 27th session of the supreme council of the Gulf Cooperation Council (Jaber Summit) in Riyadh, Prince Saud Al-Faisal, the Foreign Minister, and Abdul Rahman Bin Hamad Al-Atiyyah, the Secretary General of the GCC , held a joint press conference to highlight the outcome of the two-day event. Iyad Bin Ameen Madani, Minister of Culture and Information, attended the conference which was held at Al-Dareya palace at Riyadh's eastern district of Al-Dareya. In a speech to reporters, Prince Saud Al-Faisal said the summit's communique is quite transparent and needs no further clarification. Prince Saud highlighted the frankness and transparency which characterized the speech of the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah Bin Abdul Aziz at the GCC summit, pointing to the king's keenness that the GCC should have a united stance to be respected at the international arenas. He added that the speech focused on the development of a gulf citizen. The King stressed the necessity of education of the gulf citizen, elimination of obstacles on his way to feel that he is part of the gulf entity and the strengthening of defence means of GCC . Prince Saud pointed out that the GCC Supreme Council endorsed the plan proposed by King Abdullah to develop the Peninsula Shield Force to be effective in the defence of the homeland. On his part, Al-Atiyyah thanked the leaders on the confidence bestowed on him to continue his mission as Secretary General of the GCC beyond the expiration date of his current term of office. He said the meeting commissioned him to further study the ideas contained in a paper submitted to the summit by Kuwait on the economic, developmental, security and political aspects of the joint march of the GCC , vowing to submit the outcome of the secretariat general review on the study to the next summit in Muscat in December 2007. He said the custom union has become a reality since 2003, increasing the trade exchange among the member countries to more than 20 percent. The common market of the GCC countries would provide equal job opportunities and investment for their citizens in addition to health and educational services in any member state. In response to a question, Prince Saud Al-Faisal said Saudi Arabia and the other GCC member states send their assistance to the Palestinian people directly and openly through the Palestinian authority. In response to a question on reports that there were differences of view points among the GCC member countries on some issues, particularly after the departure of Qatar's Foreign Minister before the end of the closing session, Prince Saud said he could not see such difference. I believe there is no problem since the departure took place at the closing session, he commented. On the use of GCC countries of peaceful nuclear technology, Prince Saud said the possession of peaceful nuclear technology is a legal right and that such technology is crucial to the GCC countries in scientific fields to cope with the current progress witnessed in this field. He said the GCC countries obviously do not seek through this technology to dominate or threaten any other party but seek bringing about stability. In response to a question, he said the summit did not discuss the formation of a unified gulf parliament as our legislative bodies practice their inter-gulf, regional and international exchanges with others. On the accession of Yemen to the GCC , he said Oman summit 2001 called on the accession of Yemen to a number of GCC organizations. Work is underway so that Yemen joins the rest of organizations, Prince Saud added. He recalled that Yemen's Foreign Minister visited the kingdom just before the opening of the summit, carrying a message from President Ali Abdullah Salih of Yemen to the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah Bin Abdul Aziz in his capacity as President of the current session expressing appreciation of and thanks to the GCC leaders for their support for Yemen, particularly at the recently concluded London-based international donor conference.