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23:02 GMT
WASHINGTON, Feb 21 (KUNA) -- The US hosted Thursday consultations on the "political and security pillars" of the Middle East Strategic Alliance in the nation's capital, where the consultations included "formative exchanges on the strategic objectives of the alliance, with particular emphasis on political and security-related topics."
The Department of State said in a statement that "senior officials from Bahrain, Egypt, Jordan, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), the United States and the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) came together to discuss the alliance, a whole-of-government initiative to advance regional stability, security, and prosperity through enhanced multilateral cooperation in the political, economic, energy, and security spheres."
It added that "defensive in nature, the alliance's structure is intended to advance participating nations' common objectives and address threats to regional stability, security, and prosperity."
"The United States looks forward to continuing these positive discussions in order to leverage synergy and more effectively address existing and emergent challenges to our shared, vital interests in the region," the statement concluded. (end)
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