GCC security pact endorsed

Source: Arab News (Read full story)

 Saudi Arabia ratified a GCC security agreement on Monday, which was passed by the Supreme Council at the Gulf Cooperation Council during its 33rd session held in Bahrain last December. “The agreement focuses on cooperation among member countries in law enforcement and information exchange,” said Culture and Information Minister Abdul Aziz Khoja. Member countries will cooperate with one another in tracking down criminals and law violators irrespective of their nationalities. The agreement also allows GCC countries to take action against citizens and foreigners who try to interfere in their internal affairs. They will also exchange information related to wanted citizens and foreigners.

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UAE stocks rally on Syria deal

Source: Khaleej Times (Read full story)

Dubai shares recorded a strong rally on Sunday as the threat of an imminent attack on Syria eased following an agreement between the US and Russia to destroy the strife-torn country’s chemical weapons. The benchmark DFM General Index, which had been on a consistent slide over the past several weeks since reaching a five-year high on August 2, jumped 4.8 per cent to 2,659.93 points, the highest in almost three weeks as shares in Union Properties hit their highest level in more than three years.

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Republic of Yemen could soon be no more

Source: The National (Read full story)

Delegates at reconciliation talks in Yemen have agreed in principle to move the country from a republic to a federal system. Yemen’s foreign minister, Abu Bakr Al Qirbi, this week said the delegates had agreed to the idea of adopting a federal system in his country of 25 million people. Yemen has been a republic since 1990, when it was created out of the merger of independent states in the north and south. But under the new system, political power would devolve to regions, governorates and states, with the central government keeping control over vital portfolios such as defence and the country’s currency. Key details for the move remain to be ironed out as the talks near their scheduled end next week.

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U.S. ties in Persian Gulf at risk as Obama allows space for Russian-Syrian plan

Source: The Washington Post (Read full story)

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“The gulf feels misled,” said Mustafa Alani, a Geneva-based security analyst with the Gulf Research Center, referring to the U.S. shift. “Certainly, there’s a fear that this means Iran will be much stronger. Strategically speaking, the Iranian position is going to be enhanced in the region.” One of the main worries for the Gulf Cooperation Council, he added, is “that Syria and its allies have gained the upper hand.” At a summit of the council’s six member countries in the Saudi capital, Riyadh, on Tuesday night, Bahraini Foreign Minister Khalid bin Ahmad al-Khalifa called for “deterrent measures” against Syria, telling reporters that the Russian proposal is “all about chemical weapons but does not stop the bloodshed.”

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GCC welcomes transfer of Kuwaiti prisoners’ file

Source: Kuwait Times (Read full story)

GCC foreign ministers welcomed UN Security Council (UNSC) resolution 2107 which referred the file of missing Kuwaiti and thirdcountry nationals and Kuwaiti properties under UNAMI’s responsibility. Resolution 2107, adopted on July 24, extended mandate of UN Assistance Mission for Iraq until July 31 2014, “acknowledging” its responsibility in future to handle the missing Kuwaiti and third-country nationals and the Kuwaiti property, mainly the national archive. This change formally transferred the two Kuwait files to UNAMI, under Chapter VI, instead of Chapter VII, and put an end to the post of the High-Level Coordinator which was created in 1999. The UNSC resolution is the “fruit of positive development of relations between the State of Kuwait and Iraq, and the exchange of visits between officials of the two countries, and the outcome of these visits of the signing of important agreements over bilateral issues and international obligations,” the foreign ministers said in a statement following their one-day meeting.

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Gulf ministers to weigh measures against Syria

Source: Gulf News (Read full story)

The GCC supports taking international measures ‘to deter the Syrian regime’.  Foreign ministers of the Gulf states will meet on Tuesday in Saudi Arabia to discuss measures against Syria, as Washington drums up support for its plan to strike Damascus, a diplomat said. Countries of the Gulf Cooperation Council “support taking international measures to deter the Syrian regime”, the diplomat told AFP on Monday. The ministers will meet in Saudi Arabia’s western port city of Jeddah. The GCC, which comprises Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, has openly voiced support for the rebellion against President Bashar Al Assad.

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GCC to weigh measures against Syria

Source: Khaleej Times (Read full story)

Foreign ministers of the Gulf countries will meet on Tuesday in Saudi Arabia to discuss measures against Syria, as Washington drums up support for its plan to strike Damascus, a diplomat said.  Countries of the Gulf Cooperation Council “support taking international measures to deter the Syrian regime,” the diplomat told AFP on Monday. The ministers will meet in Saudi’s western port city of Jeddah. The GCC, which comprises Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, has openly voiced support for the rebellion against President Bashar Al Assad.  On Saturday, GCC chief Abdullatif Al Zayani urged the international community to intervene immediately to “rescue” the Syrian people from their government’s “oppression”.

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Bahrain opposition boycotts national dialogue session

Source: Khaleej Times (Read full story)

Bahrain’s opposition has boycotted a National Consensus Dialogue session in protest against restrictions imposed on political societies to hold meetings with diplomatic missions in Bahrain. Bahrain’s Justice, Islamic Affairs and Endowments Ministry issued an order on Tuesday that all requests of political societies to interact with foreign organisations or diplomatic missions should be done in coordination with the ministry. According to the new rule, the ministry’s Political Societies’ Affairs Office will receive requests from societies and will refer them to the foreign ministry for required procedures. The order also states that foreign ministry’s representatives have the right to attend meetings between political societies and foreign organisations.

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