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| GCC Jeddah meeting: A Saudi- Qatari row, al-Jazeera Shield in Kuwait, shortly |
| 2003-02-10 |
| Kuwait on Monday welcomed the decision taken by the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) states in sending units from "al-Jazeera Shield" force to Kuwait in order to protect it, at a time when more than 50,000 American soldiers are deployed on its territories. The foreign and defense ministers of the six gulf member states have agreed in urgent talks held on Saturday in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, to send a joint force to Kuwait "as soon as possible" in order to protect it against any Iraqi attack in case of the American war eruption against Baghdad. NATO won't protect Turkey, but the Gulf States are protecting Kuwait. Isn't that nice. It is, however, not known, whether the decision states to transfer all forces of "al-Jazeera Shield" from Saudi Arabia to Kuwait. The GCC formed "al-Jazeera Shield" force 10 years ago in a step which was described as a preventive measure. This force is stationed in the Saudi Hafer al-Batten area, near the borders with Iraq. The said force played no role when the Iraqi forces invaded Kuwait in 1990. Can't tell from this story if they weren't formed yet, or were in Saudi and not Kuwait in 1990. WHile Kuwait's Jaber al-Mubarak al-Hamad al-Sabah said in conclusion of Jeddah meeting that the joint Gulf force will arrive "as soon as possible," the Kuwaiti Cabinet, in a statement, expressed its gratitude over the GCC step which ensures the unity of the GCC member states. Jaber al-Mubarak said that the "Ministers of foreign affairs and defense in the GCC agreed to summon al-Jazeera Shield force to the state of Kuwait in order to be with the Kuwaiti armed forces." He expressed his hope to see the flag of al-Jazeera Shield in Kuwait very soon in preparation, together with the Kuwaiti forces to withstand any developments that might take place in the region." In its 2001 meeting, the GCC agreed the increase in the size of "al-Jazeera Shield" forces to 20,000 troops. They'll be useful in handling Iraqi refugees and POWs. On the other hand, and during their meeting in Jeddah, the gulf ministers or their representatives held consultations concerning the Iraqi crisis. According to sources close to the meeting, before concluding their meeting, the ministers decided to form "a crisis commission" in charge of following up developments of the situation in the Gulf region. With the exception of Riyadh, which stresses it will not be involved in the war, the other states in the GCC, in different rates provide facilities for the American army. Bahrain hosts the American 5th Fleet, Kuwait hosts 51,000 American troopers, Oman provides bases while Qatar will be the headquarters for the central leadership in case of the American attack. Except for Riyadh, these are our friends. Sources close to the meeting in Riyadh said that the meeting was suspended following a row between the Qatari foreign minister Sheikh Hamad Bin Jasem Bin Jaber al-Thani and his Saudi peer prince Saud al-Faisal with every one of them blaming the other for the allegations campaigns between Doha and Riyadh. According to these sources, the Saudi defense minister prince Sultan had interfered to put an end to the row and invited the participants to a lunch banquet. "Quit fighting, children! Let's have lunch." The sources said that the GCC ministers agreed not to permit "the flow of the Iraqi refugees to the Gulf territories in case a war takes place." Just what I thought, the GCC troops will handle refugees. The sources added that the ministers urged Baghdad to the need of "honoring the UN resolutions and disclose banned weapons if they exist." Fat chance The sources said that the Saudi foreign minister presented to the ministers the results of the talks he had held last week in France and Britain and the USA with the heads of states in these countries. "Get your heads down!" |
| Posted by:Steve |
| #2 You'll notice that United Arab Emirates is not noted in this article. Yet UAE is a part of the GCC. The UAE are the biggest pussies of all. At least the soddies have a position! |
| Posted by: bartelarsen 2003-02-10 14:12:08 |
| #1 The Soddies are cheesed at the Qataris for providing real support to the U.S. The Qataris are cheesed at the Soddies for trying to stage a coup. The Gulf states as a whole seem to have arrived at the conclusion that they're safer under the U.S. wing than under the Soddy wing. That's significant. |
| Posted by: Fred 2003-02-10 11:14:41 |