LOC21:23
18:23 GMT
BRUSSELS, Oct 28 (KUNA) -- NATO and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) will
sign an agreement on the security of information during the two-day visit of
NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen to the capital, Abu Dhabi, on
Thursday, NATO said here Wednesday.
"This is in essence to allow for exchange of classified and confidential
information which will of course help to strengthen our cooperation on daily
basis," NATO spokesman James Appathurai said told his weekly news conference
this afternoon.
The spokesman said Rasmussen and NATO Permanent Representatives on the
North Atlantic Council left today for Abu Dhabi to attend the International
Conference on "NATO-UAE Relations and the Way Forward in the Istanbul
Cooperation Initiative (ICI)", to take place on Thursday.
He said the conference is aimed at better mutual understanding between NATO
and ICI invited countries, and to "look at the security challenges which we
all face and find common approaches to solving them."
Terrorism and nuclear proliferation are the two shared challenges, noted
Appathurai.
The conference is co-organised by the UAE's Foreign Ministry and the NATO
Public Diplomacy Division.
The event will bring together 300 participants, including high level NATO
officials with government representatives, opinion leaders, academics and
senior scholars from Gulf state members of the Istanbul Cooperation Initiative.
Bahrain, Kuwait, Qatar, and the United Arab Emirates are currently members
of the ICI which was launched at the Alliance's Summit in the Turkish city in
June 2004.
The first such conference in the region with NATO was held in Kuwait in
2006 and the second in Bahrain in 2008.
During the visit to the UAE, Rasmussen will also hold bilateral meetings
with the Prime Minister, Vice President of the UAE and Minister of Defense and
Ruler of Dubai, Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al-Maktoum, with the Crown Prince
and Deputy Supreme Commander of the UAE Armed Forces Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed
al-Nahyan and with the Minister of Foreign Affairs Sheikh Abdallah bin Zayed
Al Nahyan. (end)
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