SAUDI ARABIA: Saudi youth conference backs full integration of Gulf Arab countries

Record ID: 188971

  • Title: SAUDI ARABIA: Saudi youth conference backs full integration of Gulf Arab countries
  • Date: 30th April 2012
  • Summary: RIYADH, SAUDI ARABIA (APRIL 28, 2012) (REUTERS) EXTERIOR OF HOTEL WITH SIGN READING (Arabic) 'GULF YOUTH CONFERENCE' VARIOUS OF CONFERENCE PARTICIPANTS CHATTERING IN HALL CONFERENCE LOGO (SOUNDBITE) (Arabic) WORKSHOP ORGANISER, MANSOUR AL-ANEZI, SAYING: "This conference is the beginning. We want to hold further meetings of the Gulf Cooperation Council youths to emphasise the importance of the establishment of this union that meets the hopes and aspirations of the people in the Gulf." (SOUNDBITE) (Arabic) COORDINATOR OF ONE OF THE CONFERENCE'S WORKSHOP, AISHA AL-KOWARI, SAYING: "The transformation of the Gulf countries from cooperation to union needs to rely on youth's vision, because young people are the ones who are leading this trend and they will lead the union, fulfilling the image seen by the leaders." PANELLISTS SEATED AT CONFERENCE VARIOUS OF CONFERENCE IN PROGRESS (SOUNDBITE) (Arabic) SECRETARY GENERAL OF GULF COOPERATION COUNCIL (GCC), ABDUL LATIF AL-ZAYANI, SAYING: "The comprehensive security in the Gulf through which we gain our strength and power will not be shared by countries that work alone and we believe that our security depends on God's will, integration and countries relying on each other." WOMEN IN THE AUDIENCE APPLAUDING CONFERENCE IN PROGRESS (SOUNDBITE) (Arabic) PRINCE ABDULAZIZ BIN ABDULLAH AL SAUD, DEPUTY MINISTER OF OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS, SAYING: "The cooperation and coordination amongst GCC countries in it's current form may not be sufficient to meet the existing and coming challenges which require the development of a joint GCC action to form an accepted unity formula as this is considered the right way to face crises in an active and influential manner." MEN IN AUDIENCE TAKING NOTES (SOUNDBITE) (Arabic) PRINCE ABDULAZIZ BIN ABDULLAH AL SAUD, DEPUTY MINISTER OF OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS, SAYING "In the economic field, this kind of union will make the Arab Gulf states a strong economic bloc with cumulative gross domestic product reaching more than US$1.4 trillion dollars in 2011." AUDIENCE APPLAUDING PARTICIPANTS LEAVING CONFERENCE
  • Embargoed: 15th May 2012 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Saudi Arabia, Saudi Arabia
  • Country: Saudi Arabia
  • Topics: International Relations,Politics
  • Reuters ID: LVALFVEHEWHFK8EZ9XDCT8JP154
  • Story Text: Saudi and regional leaders on Saturday (April 28) addressed a youth conference in Riyadh endorsing full integration of Gulf Arab states in key areas like security and diplomacy to counter perceived regional and global threats.
    The three-day conference promoted a call made by Saudi King Abdaullah last year to form a "single entity" in what appeared to be an attempt to form a more united front against a perceived threat from Iran and so-called Arab Spring spillover.
    "This conference is the beginning. We want to hold further meetings of the Gulf Cooperation Council youths to emphasise the importance of the establishment of this union that meets the hopes and aspirations of the people in the Gulf," said one of the organisers, Mansour al-Anezi.
    Hundreds of young participants from across the region arrived in Riyadh to attend the conference and take part in its different workshops. Aisha al-Kowari, a workshop coordinator from Qatar, said the social and political future of the region lies in the hands of the next generation.
    "The transformation of the Gulf countries from cooperation to union needs to rely on youth's vision, because young people are the ones who are leading this trend and they will lead the union, fulfilling the image seen by the leaders," she said.
    King Abdullah said in December the security of Saudi Arabia and its Arab neighbours was being targeted, in an apparent reference to Iran, and called on Gulf Arab states to "move beyond the stage of cooperation and into the stage of unity in a single entity."
    Addressing the conference on Saturday, the Secretary General of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) Abdul Latif al-Zayani and the king's son, Saudi Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs, Prince Abdulaziz bin Abdullah Al Saud, echoed the monarch's suggestion.
    "The comprehensive security in the Gulf through which we gain our strength and power will not be shared by countries that work alone and we believe that our security depends on God's will, integration and countries relying on each other," al-Zayani told the conference.
    "The cooperation and coordination amongst GCC countries in it's current form may not be sufficient to meet the existing and coming challenges which require the development of a joint GCC action to form an accepted unity formula as this is considered the right way to face crises in an active and influential manner," the Saudi prince said.
    "In the economic field, this kind of union will make the Arab Gulf states a strong economic bloc with cumulative gross domestic product reaching more than US$1.4 trillion in 2011."
    The goal of greater union is enshrined in the six-nation Gulf Cooperation Council's 1981 founding charter, but has only been given impetus by the mass uprisings that have reshaped the power balance in the Middle East, as well as fears of a newly assertive non-Arab, Shi'ite Iran across the Strait of Hormuz.
    The GCC has discussed the matter informally, but has yet to specify what concrete steps might be taken.
    In December, during its highest-level meeting since a wave of protests swept the Arab world, the cooperaiton pledged closer military and security integration. However their statement made no specific reference to Iran, which Gulf leaders have accused of fomenting anti-government unrest in GCC member Bahrain, put down by a joint GCC intervention force.
    Nonetheless, analysts said the move was a response to the perceived threat from Iran and the Arab revolts.
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