The 25th Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) Summit in Bahrain ended yesterday without elaborating on Saudi-Bahraini differences concerning Bahrain's free trade agreement with the US.
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The final statement agreed upon by all six member states was made public by Abdul Rahman Al-Attiyah, GCC secretary-general. "Regarding the relationship of the GCC countries with other countries, the High Council has taken into consideration developments regarding the matter which happened in 2004 and the deals that have been made to establish free trade zones, in addition to other economic agreements between GCC member states and other countries." Upon arrival in Riyadh from Manama, Prince Sultan, second deputy premier and minister of defense and aviation, expressed the hope that the outcome of the summit would benefit the people of the region. "I pray to the Almighty Allah that the summit would succeed in serving the entire peoples of the Gulf," he was quoted by the Saudi Press Agency as saying. In reply to a question about attempts by some to blow up the signing of unilateral trade agreements by some GCC states, he said: "We would settle for what has been issued by the summit. God willing, everything will be all right." |