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GCC FMs, leaders to coordinate positions before US summit - Sheikh Sabah Al-Khaled

KUWAIT, April 27 (KUNA) -- First Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Sheikh Sabah Khaled Al-Hamad Al-Sabah said Monday the May 5 GCC consultative summit, to be preceded by a foreign ministers' meeting, aimed at coordinating positions before a summit meeting between GCC and US leaders.
He said meetings of the foreign ministers and then GCC leaders were designed to coordinate positions over issues to be discussed by leaders of the six GCC countries and US President Barack Obama in Camp David.
Sheikh Sabah Al-Khaled was speaking in an open session in the Arab Media Forum, which concluded activities today.
The region, he said, has been experiencing tension for a decade because of the Iranian nuclear program.
"We have to look at the framework agreement between the P5+1 group as contributing to security and stability of the region," he said.
This agreement, which was concluded in Switzerland early this month, will reduce tension in the region, he added, and that "we should start as neighboring countries to think on how to cooperate among each other and invest our potentials." Sheikh Sabah Al-Khaled talked about threats facing region, saying the Islamic State in Iraq and Levant (ISIL) surfaced last June and occupied large swathes of lands in Syria and Iraq, and Houthi militias in Yemen staged a coup d'etat on the legitimate leadership and dragged Yemen to a civil war thus threatening security and stability of the region.
On Palestine, Sheikh Sabah Al-Khaled said the Palestinian cause was "our prime cause" with some countries, like Sweden, recognizing the State of Palestine. "However we faced a stumbling block in the Security Council in the past two days of last year ... ." He said the Arab-Israeli conflict could be solved on the basis of the 2002 Arab peace initiative, and relevant UN resolutions but the Israelis were stalling the peace process.
Sheikh Sabah Al-Khaled said the wise leaderships succeeded in overcoming inter-GCC disputes, and the GCC has proven to be steadfast against turmoils which began in the Iraq-Iran war, the Iraqi occupation of Kuwait, the 1994 war in Yemen, and the liberation of Iraq in 2003.
"The GCC has been the most coordinated and organized body in the face of these events," he said.
The top diplomat said Kuwait has lived up to its regional and international responsibilities, hosting many Gulf, Arab, African and international summits amidst "extraordinary circumstances facing the region." Kuwait, he added, also hosted three donor conferences for the Syrian people, the latest was last month, contributing USD billions to help the needy Syrians.
Sheikh Sabah Al-Khaled said the Arab countries should unite in the face of numerous challenges facing them, like terrorism and extremism.
He said people have the right to express their aspirations peacefully.
"But we will not allow that security of our countries be undermined under the pretext of rights of peoples," he wanred.
"Iraq and Libya, two of the richest countries, are still in difficult economic conditions because of the chaos which prevented the people from using their resources," he said. (end) rkf.bs