The fourth ministerial meeting of the Forum of Strategic Cooperation between Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) States and the United States of America has been held in New York with the participation of GCC Foreign Ministers, GCC Secretary General Dr. Abdullatif Al-Zayani, and the Secretary of State of the United States of America John Kerry. They issued a joint statement after the meeting saying that the Forum has worked since its inception in March 2012 to strengthen strategic cooperation, coordinate policies between the two sides, and achieve political, military, security and economic common objectives in the Gulf region. The GCC States and the United States of America have reached during the talks an agreement to take concrete steps to combat ISIS (Daash) Organization, and discussed the key challenges in the region and ideas that enhance stability and security in the region, and support and deepen political, security, economic and cultural cooperation. The statement said that according to UN Security Council Resolution No. 2170 (2014), Jeddah final communiqué issued on September 11, 2014 and Paris statement on (September 15, 2014), the Ministers stressed their rejection of terrorism, the use of violence, extremism and sectarianism in all its forms, and they condemned the indiscriminate targeting of civilians and the recruitment of children in acts of terrorism. The Ministers stressed that ISIS terrorist organization constitutes a direct threat to peace and common security, condemning the barbaric crimes committed by the ISIS organization including the brutal murder, rape, enslavement, torture, kidnapping for ransom, trafficking of women and girls, burning of houses and destruction of basic infrastructure. They also affirmed that ISIS does not have any religious reference, and that its actions are incompatible with all the teachings of Islam, and they commended the statement of Senior Scholars Council in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia issued on September 17, 2014, which condemned terrorism and pointed to the importance of continuing efforts to disclose the deviant call of Daash, Al-Qaeda and extremist and other violent organizations. The ministers agreed that the campaign against ISIS is not a religious or sectarian issue, but it is primarily a war on terrorism and brutality, and it was agreed that these discussions be followed by taking practical steps to destroy Daash and eventually defeat it to achieve security and stability, through cutting off its sources of funding, banning travel of foreign fighters to join it, and exchanging of information about its activities. The Ministers welcomed in this regard the conference to be held in Bahrain in November which will focus on combating the financing of terrorism to ensure the non-use of financial institutions and charitable organizations to finance terrorism and other illegal activities. In welcoming the formation of the new Iraqi government, the ministers agreed to continue seeking for relations of mutual respect, at a time when the government addresses the needs of all components of the Iraqi society. The Ministers agreed to take steps to build those relationships, including the reopening of embassies and appropriate diplomatic exchanges. The Ministers stressed that the existence of an effective Iraqi government that represents all Iraqis, and capable security forces, are essential elements in the war on Daash, and they agreed to take steps to maintain the security and stability of Iraq, including the provision of humanitarian aid. The Ministers reaffirmed their position on the illegality of Bashar Al-Assad and his regime, stressing the need to form a new Syrian government, reflecting the aspirations of the Syrian people, and pushing forward the national unity, pluralism and human rights of all Syrians. The Ministers noted that Al-Assad's regime has demonstrated a lack of desire or ability to confront the sites and hideouts of terrorism inside Syrian territory, which makes the international action against terrorism in Syria as justifiable and necessary. The Ministers also noted that the atrocities committed by the Syrian regime against its own citizens are continuing, including murder, air strikes, shelling, bombs and bomb barrels to terrorize civilian areas, in addition to the appalling and criminal use of chemical weapons.
