Sultan Qaboos, who left Riyadh yesterday for Kuwait, held talks with Crown Prince Abdullah, Prince Sultan, second deputy premier and minister of defense and aviation, and other Saudi officials. Saudi Arabia and Oman also called for a collective international campaign to combat terrorism. "The two sides renewed their call for an international effort to combat the phenomenon of terrorism, which has taken multiple dimensions and forms that threaten world peace and security," said the statement carried by the Saudi Press Agency. The SPA statement referred to Prince Abdullah's call at a counterterrorism conference in Riyadh last February to set up an international center to combat terrorism. Saudi Arabia has been successful in tracking down suspected Al-Qaeda militants who are blamed for a series of shootings and bombings across the Kingdom over the past two years. Riyadh and Muscat also expressed support for "the political process" in Iraq and "non-intervention in its internal affairs," saying they wanted to see "an end to the Iraqi people's suffering" as a result of the ongoing violence.The statement said Prince Abdullah and Sultan Qaboos had reviewed the existing cooperation between Saudi Arabia and Oman and explored ways to strengthen them. "They also exchanged views on various regional and international issues and developments," SPA said. "The two sides expressed their satisfaction over the level of their bilateral relations and agreed to strengthen them at all levels in order to take ties to new heights," the statement said. Referring to the resolutions made at the recently held consultative summit of the Gulf Cooperation Council in Riyadh, the two sides emphasized that the GCC would be able to confront international challenges only by strengthening its unity.
The two sides reviewed the progress of the GCC and pledged to work together to strengthen the six-member regional organization, which they said was a strategic option for the Gulf states. Sultan Qaboos was accompanied by a high-level delegation including Foreign Minister Yousuf ibn Alawi Abdullah, Finance Minister Ahmed Makki and Commerce and Industry Minister Maqbool Sultan.