Oman at meeting of GCC Ministerial Council

Oman's Foreign Minister Sayyid Badr Albusaidi led the Sultanate of Oman's delegation to the 159th session of the Ministerial Council of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), chaired by Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani, Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs of the State of Qatar. The session was held at the GCC Secretariat headquarters in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, attended by the Foreign Ministers of the GCC states, and the GCC Secretary-General.

The meeting reviewed the progress made  in implementing the decisions issued by the GCC Supreme Council aimed at enhancing joint Gulf action.

The Ministers made several decisions to expedite the completion of the remaining requirements for a GCC customs union and to apply equality in treating the citizens of the GCC states in all areas of the joint Gulf market. The Council also agreed to establish a coordinating committee for the sovereign funds of the GCC states.

Regarding the situation in the Gaza Strip and the Palestinian issue, the Ministers reaffirmed the GCC states' solid support for the Palestinian people and their just cause in achieving self-determination and establishing their independent state with East Jerusalem as its capital.

In this context, the Council called on all countries to immediately recognise the Palestinian state and to convene an urgent international peace conference in the Middle East to affirm the two-state solution and agree on all necessary arrangements and guarantees for this.

The Council called for the participation in this conference of all components and factions of the Palestinian people under the leadership of the Palestine Liberation Organisation, the legitimate representative of the Palestinian people.

The Council demanded the immediate cessation of military actions by Israeli forces in the Gaza Strip and the end of their occupation of the area, to ensure the delivery of humanitarian relief.

The Council reiterated its call for the international community to provide protection for civilians in the Gaza Strip.

The Ministerial Council also appealed to all supporters of UNRWA (United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the near East) to continue their support for its humanitarian tasks with regard to Palestinian refugees, alleviating the effects of the humanitarian crisis in Palestine, especially in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank.

This is an unofficial English version of an Arabic report. To view the official Arabic text, click here.