Date : 07/01/2013
MUSCAT, Jan 7 (KUNA) -- A special panel of the Gulf Cooperation Council
(GCC) tasked with examining process of establishing confederation among the
six member states of the council started a meeting here on Monday.
The committee is studying "movement from the phase of cooperation to the
stage of confederation and this is a demand of many citizens of the council
states," said the head of the commission, Dr. Mohammed Bin Ahmad Al-Rashid,
also the chairman of the Saudi consultative authority, in a statement. He also
noted that the fourth article of the GCC statute stipulates that the member
states should coordinate for sake of reaching integration and unity.
"It is high time that we ponder moving to this (confederation) phase
provided that each state retains its sovereignty," he added, indicating that
the council states were seeking unity identical to that bonding member states
of the European Union.
Saudi King Abdullah Bin Abdul Aziz had called for developing relationship
among the GCC states within the bloc into confederation.
For his part, Abdullah Bechara, member of the consultative authority of
Kuwait, and the state representative at the meeting, said in a statement to
KUNA that the commission "is studying speeding up establishment of the
collective Gulf entity with compliance by statute of the GCC."
Aspired confederation "means preserving national identity, sovereignty,
independence and internal regimes of each member state within the framework of
the charter of the council," he added.
Members of the panel, including representatives of Kuwait, are pondering
remarks and comments, presented by the higher authorities of the member
states, namely the foreign ministries, regarding the aspired establishment of
the confederation.
The GCC states have been bound with close cooperation in various sectors
since establishment of the regional bloc in the early 80s. The council
comprises Kuwait, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Qatar, Oman and Saudi
Arabia. (end)
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