Prince Saud: GCC meeting 'fruitful'

Prince Saud Al-Faisal, Minister of Foreign Affairs, described as "fruitful and constructive," the outcome of the 122nd session of the Ministerial Council of Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) States, which concluded its deliberations here on Sunday evening. "The Ministerial Council discussed the works of ministerial committees and draft resolutions to be submitted to the GCC leaders, as well as political developments at regional and Arab arenas," Prince Saud said. In a statement at a press conference here yesterday after the conclusion of the session, Prince Saud said, "On the basis of a decision of the GCC Supreme Council, the proposal of the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques, King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz Al Saud for the transfer from cooperation stage to the state of Union, it topped the session's deliberations in the light of the results of the first meeting of the specialized commission formed by the GCC states to study the proposal in all its aspects". Prince Saud pointed out that the commission's report has reflected an interest in the transfer of the march of the GCC joint actions to the stage of the Union, within the framework of supporting the GCC objectives and the enhancement of the Council's capabilities, in response to developments in GCC states, changes at regional and international arenas and at the same time the achievement of the aspirations of GCC leaders and peoples to advance the process of integration among the GCC states to wider horizons in all fields. Prince Saud Al-Faisal said, "In this context, the Commission's report on its study to transfer the GCC to the stage of the Union has been keen to benefit from the experiences of other nations, without prejudice to the foundations and fundamentals on which the Gulf Cooperation Council was established, or compromising national characteristics of each state and its manifestations of sovereignty and independence. The specialized commission will continue its works and consultations to develop visions and ideas of the Union and to submit them to the GCC leaders." He said that the session also discussed the situation in Yemen in light of the transfer of power, noting that deliberations confirmed that the stability of the situation in Yemen will encourage the international community to assist Yemen, and enable it to overcome its ordeal. Prince Saud Al-Faisal noted that the session also discussed the developments of the Syrian crisis, within the framework of the existing Arab and international efforts. "We welcome the good intentions of these efforts, but unfortunately, they have not produced tangible results to stop the growing shedding of the blood of the Syrian people and to take immediate and decisive measures to stop the massacres within the general framework of the Arab League plan and the decisions of its Ministerial Council ," he said. Prince Saud indicated that the session also discussed 23rd Arab Summit to be held in Baghdad, adding that the deliberations reflected the keenness of the GCC states to participate in the Summit in commitment to the decision of the Arab League on rotating Summit. With regard to the level of representation at the Summit, he said, "That will depend on the extent of creating the appropriate conditions so that Baghdad Summit addresses key issues seriously and takes critical decisions on them, as there should be an expression of dissatisfaction over the positions of some Iraqi parties belonging to the government, which constitute an obvious interference in the internal affairs of the GCC states and a departure from diplomatic customs and traditions and previous agreements, including the intervention in Bahrain and Kuwait, while GCC states are keen to emphasize Iraq's national and regional unity, independence, sovereignty and not to interfere in its internal affairs.