Leaders of the six-nation Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) will meet in the Saudi capital on May 5 for a consultative meeting that is likely to focus on regional security concerns, including the situation in Yemen and Iran’s Middle East ambitions.
The meeting comes about a week before the crucial US-GCC summit on May 13 and 14. It would be an opportunity to assess concerns about the aggression of the Houthis in Yemen, and Iran’s role in the Gulf, and its nuclear deal, said Kuwait’s Foreign Ministry Undersecretary Khaled Suleiman Al-Jarallah Al-Sabah, in a statement released Wednesday.
Senior GCC officials including Abdel Aziz Aluwaisheg, assistant secretary-general, and Ahmed Al-Kabi, a media official, were not immediately available for comment. However, a reliable source said that this would be the focus.
“The GCC countries are worried about regional conflicts,” said the source, adding that there is an urgent need for an international security arrangement for the region.
On the conclusion of the Saudi-led Operation Decisive Storm in Yemen, Al-Sabah said that he hoped all parties would return to the negotiating table to discuss their differences in accordance with the GCC’s decisions.
The talks, he said, must be within the framework of the UN Security Council resolutions on the conflict. “We believe Security Council Resolution 2216 constitutes a concrete basis for any political initiative that aims to address the situation in Yemen,” he said. Commenting on media reports of an Omani initiative to resolve the crisis, Al-Sabah said that any initiative must be based on the UN resolution.
“If the Houthis do not withdraw from southern Yemen within two days, which is the deadline set by the Security Council, the council will follow its procedures under Chapter VII,” he warned. He said Gulf countries would continue to provide humanitarian assistance to the Yemeni people.
The US administration announced last month that President Barack Obama would meet with the GCC leaders on May 13 at the White House, and then at Camp David the following day.
Arab News
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