Muscat Summit to endorse King's proposals on GCC

Riyadh, December 20, SPA -- The Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC)
Summit in Muscat will see the launch of the GCC Monetary Fund, as
well as a discussion on all obstacles in the way of economic
cooperation and integration among the six member states, said GCC
Secretary General Abdulrahman Al-Attiyah on Saturday.


In a statement published by Okaz Arabic newspaper, Al-Attiyah said
the economic dossier would feature strongly in the summit, which was
expected to launch the GCC Monetary Union and its Monetary Council,
thereby paving the way for establishing the GCC Central Bank.


Kuwaiti news agency "KUNA" quoted Al-Atiyyah as saying that the
Muscat Summit, set to be held on December 29, would approve the
suggestions made by the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King
Abdullah bin Abdulaziz at the Doha Summit, relevant to removing
obstacles facing GCC integration in all fields.



Moreover, the Secretary General said the summit would discuss a
Kuwaiti paper on regional challenges facing the GCC member states, as
well as several political issues, namely the situation in Palestine
and the Arab-Israeli conflict, the situations in Lebanon, Sudan and
Iraq, the Iranian nuclear file, and cooperation with Yemen.


Al-Atiyyah added that the GCC leaders would be reviewing a report by
the GCC General Secretariat on studies for nuclear energy usage for
peaceful purposes, noting the leaders would ask Iran to respond to
the UAE's efforts to resolve the issue of its occupied islands
through direct negotiations or by resorting to the International
Court of Justice.


As for piracy, he said this important issue would be discussed.


Other topics of focus will include water systems, and a feasibility
study on laying a railway network, KUNA reported.