Gulf leaders meeting here Tuesday pledged to extend all support to Palestinian-Israeli peace talks and vowed to work in unison to boost regional security. The GCC leaders, who held their 12th consultative meeting at Dirriyah Palace, also called on all neighboring states and international partners to help Iraq and further the process of development in that war-torn country. The heads of the six GCC members – Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates – held talks on regional political issues and discussed post-election Iraq, Iran's perceived nuclear threat and the Palestinian-Israeli peace process among other issues, GCC Secretary General Abdulrahman Al-Attiyah said in a post-summit press conference. He declined to detail the group's views on arrests of suspected spies in Kuwait last month. Kuwait confirmed that several suspects were being questioned in connection with a busted cell, but it fell short of confirming press reports that they were spying for Iran's Revolutionary Guards. At least seven people, including members of Kuwait's army and police, were under arrest, according to the Kuwaiti daily Al-Qabas, which added that the security forces were hunting for other suspects. Asked if the GCC is concerned about a region-wide spy network from Iran, Attiyah said the group has a committee “at the level of interior ministers” following the issue. “But our Kuwaiti friends want to handle it themselves for the moment,” he said. The GCC heads of state, who expressed hopes of a full-fledged revival of the peace process, also called on Israel to halt settlements in Palestinian territories. The summit urged the international community to exert pressure on Israel to speed up the peace process that will lead to the peaceful coexistence of two states side by side. The Gulf leaders endorsed a broader agreement calling on Iran to respond to peaceful efforts to resolve the crisis following repeated calls made by Western countries to Tehran to roll back its nuclear program. The GCC summit was chaired by King Abdullah, Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques, who also hosted a dinner for the Gulf leaders. The meeting was also attended by Crown Prince Sultan, Deputy Premier and Minister of Defense and Aviation, and Prince Naif, Second Deputy Premier and Minister of Interior, besides other top Saudi officials. King Abdullah said that the Gulf states were committed to bolstering efforts through concerted action for peace and security. A more homogenous GCC economic bloc is also the need of the hour, said the King. After the meeting's formal opening, the GCC leaders went into a closed session. A GCC official said that better transport links including a railway project were also discussed with added enthusiasm to boost inter-regional trade. “In a few years from now, we will probably see a far greater level of physical interconnections and far better transport links, not just in the Gulf but across the Middle East,” he added.
