JEDDAH: Iran, Palestine, economic cooperation and security issues will be the major topics for discussion at the 31st Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) summit starting Monday in Abu Dhabi. Abdul Rahman Bin Hamad Al-Attiya, the GCC Secretary General, said the Abu Dhabi summit is significant because it has been convened under sensitive circumstances. He expressed hope that it would be a base for strengthening joint action at all levels. He said the leaders will also discuss cultural and military issues at the two-day summit. Economic issues will likely take center-stage, in particular the Customs Union. On Sunday, as part of preparations for the summit, GCC ministers of foreign affairs will discuss the summit agenda and review draft decisions and recommendations. This will be submitted to the leaders Monday for approval. The Kingdom's delegation to the ministers' meeting is headed by Prince Saud Al-Faisal, Minister of Foreign Affairs. Diplomatic sources said the leaders will be briefed on the follow-up report on the progress of the Supreme Council's decisions. The summit will discuss the issue of the Iranian occupation of United Arab Emirates' (UAE) three islands and will announce the GCC countries' support for the UAE's right of sovereignty. There will be a call on Tehran to respond to efforts by the UAE and the international community to tackle the issue via direct negotiations or through the International Court of Justice, said the sources. On the Iranian nuclear issue, the sources said the summit will stress the importance of committing to the principles of international legitimacy, solving conflicts by peaceful means, the continuation of discussions between Iran and Western countries, and recognizing the right of the region's countries to develop nuclear energy for peaceful means. The summit will also renew GCC support for the Palestinian people who are facing Israeli oppression in occupied Palestinian territories and will call on the international community, and Washington, to bear full responsibility for peace-making efforts. The summit will support the Palestinian Authority's stance calling for a halt to the building of settlements and expansion of the existing ones. It will also demand that the international community stop all settlement activities and not to allow Israel to interfere at Al-Quds, preserve Islamic sites, lift the unjust blockade on Gaza by occupation forces, support the establishment of an independent Palestinian state with Eastern Al-Quds its capital, and the Israeli withdrawal from the occupied Syrian Golan Heights and from Shabaa farms south of Lebanon. The sources said the GCC countries will support Palestinian reconciliation and will call for enhanced Arab efforts, especially from Egypt, to help the Palestinian people establish an independent state.
