Oman Foreign Minister: “There is No Gulf Union”

Photo Credit: AFP

Yousuf Bin Alawi Bin Abdullah, the Omani Minister Responsible for Foreign Affairs said “There is no Gulf union” in a statement published only days before a Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) meeting in Jeddah. Saudi Arabia’s King Abdullah Bin Abdul Aziz Al Saud had called upon the members of the GCC — Bahrain, Kuwait, Qatar, Oman, Saudi Arabia and the UAE — to move from a phase of cooperation to a phase of union within a single entity in a meeting last December. Though several member nations have responded positively to the idea of a Gulf union,  Yousuf Abdullah insisted “the commission to study the project no longer exists and the union exists now only among journalists.” In yesterday’s GCC meeting in Jeddah, Saudi Foreign Minister Saud Al-Faisal called on member states to actively take part in an upcoming donor meeting for Yemen and to mobilize their resources to help Syrians defend themselves against President Bashar Assad’s regime.

Meanwhile, Oman’s Public Prosecution Department (PPD) warned citizens that legal action will be taken against those who indulge in “offensive writing” and incite others to carry out acts detrimental to the nation’s interests. The announcement came after the arrest of three prominent human rights activists last week.