Gulf leaders will hold on Monday their 30th meeting amid a critical security and economic situation of the region, especially following Israel's approval Sunday of listing some Jewish settlements in the occupied West Bank as “national priority zones,” entitling the communities to millions of dollars of extra state funding. The move will further stall Middle East peace talks. The decision is certain to stir furor as it comes just weeks after Israel instituted a 10-month moratorium on new building permits in the settlements after months of US pressure. As Israel moves to expand its settlements, disaccord keeps widening between Palestinian rival factions Fatah and Hamas. The summit will discuss Yemen's fight against rebels and Saudi Arabia's involvement in the conflict plus the Iran nuclear issue and the impact of both on regional security. Yemeni Foriegn Minister Abu Bakr Al-Kurbi was on an official visit to Kuwait Sunday, one day ahead of the summit, to deliver a letter from President Ali Abdullah Saleh to the GCC leaders about the situation in Yemen which is a member of some GCC councils. Yemeni officials have said that infiltrators have been supported by foreign powers to launch a proxy war on Saudi Arabia and help disintegrate the unity of Yemen. Gulf governments have earlier denounced foreign meddling in Yemen's internal affairs as accusations against Iran mounted. Iran's nuclear ambitions, with international sanctions again looming large, will also take center stage, particularly in the light of strained relations between the GCC countries and Tehran over the Yemen conflict. Kuwait decided not to invite any foreign leaders to the summit, despite Iran's President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad being welcomed by Qatar to the GCC summit in 2007. The summit will also welcome the newly-formed Lebanese government by Prime Minister Saad Al-Hariri and offer its support to the unity and sovereignty of Lebanon. The leaders are scheduled to officially launch a monetary union pact, approve a multi-billion-dollar railway network and commission the start of a common power grid project. The monetary union pact was signed in May and ratified by four of the six states after Oman and the UAE withdrew from the project. The pact stipulates the establishment next year of the GCC monetary council, a precursor of a central bank to be based in Riyadh. The GCC has repeatedly said the currency will launch in 2010, despite many signals to the contrary. Kuwait's Foreign Minister Sheikh Mohammad Al-Sabah told parliament last week it could be 10 years before the currency union materializes. The monetary union received a major setback when the UAE, the region's second largest economy, withdrew from it in protest over the Saudi capital being chosen to host the future Gulf central bank. It remains unclear whether the leaders will step in to ease the woes of debt-ridden Dubai. The glitzy Gulf tourism hub sent jitters throughout global markets in late November when it signaled difficulties in repaying the debt of its largest conglomerate Dubai World, which has liabilities of $59 billion. Saudi economist and former GCC economic official Abdullah Al-Quwaiz told a symposium in Kuwait last week the UAE will rejoin the monetary union “faster that anyone would believe” because it stands to benefit most from the union. The GCC leaders are expected to give the go-ahead for a rail network by establishing the GCC railway authority to oversee construction of 2,000 kilometers (1,240 miles) of track at a cost of up to $25 billion. The first phase of the GCC power grid project which has already started to link the electricity networks of Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Qatar and Bahrain, will also be commissioned by the leaders. The second phase will link Oman with the UAE, and the final stage will join the two networks. Established in 1981 as a loose economic and political bloc, the GCC has often been criticized for its slow-paced economic integration and delays in key projects. “There have been great economic achievements but ambitions are far greater,” Quwaiz said. Technical and political snags are delaying implementation of a customs union launched in 2003 and a common market created two years ago. However, the GCC said in a report on Saturday that the customs union has boosted trade between member states from $15 billion in 2002 to as much as $65 billion last year.
