HH the Emir of Qatar Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa al-Thani took part in the opening session of the GCC Supreme Council Summit.
Also attending the session were HE the Premier and Foreign Minister Sheikh Hamad bin Jassim bin Jabor al-Thani as well as members of the official delegation accompanying the Emir.
Addressing the opening session Sultan Qaboos bin Saeed of Oman, the chairman of the 29th GCC summit expressed the hope that the summit would come out with results realising the aspirations of the Gulf peoples.
Sultan Qaboos called on the leaders to work for futher comprehensive development in the countries.
He said the GCC countries should work with international parties to address consequences of the global financial crisis in order to jump-start economic and social development.
Sultan Qaboos praised the constructive efforts made by HH the Emir of Qatar Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa al-Thani, the chairman of the 28th GCC Supreme Council Summit, in following up implementation of its resolutions.
The key focus of the annual heads of state meeting is to approve a long-planned pact that could take them closer to issuing a single currency before a self-imposed 2010 deadline for monetary union.
But Gulf rulers were certain to focus at least initially on the bloodshed in Gaza before turning their attentions on how to tackle an oil price slump and a global financial crisis that has brought an end to a six-year regional economic boom.
“(Gaza) is the most prominent event on the summit,” Abdulrahman al-Attiyah, secretary-general of the Gulf Co-operation Council (GCC), told reporters after an opening session of leaders in the Omani capital, Muscat.
“Gaza was discussed yesterday, has been discussed in the meetings today and will be discussed tomorrow at all levels. It will be reflected in the summit statement and therefore this issue is one of the hottest in the summit.”
The prime minister of Qatar, HE Sheikh Hamad bin Jassim bin Jabor al-Thani, called the attacks “savage and unjustified”.
He told Israeli Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni in a telephone conversation that “Arabs feel that Israel had no intention of achieving peace,” the official Qatar News Agency reported.
An Arab foreign ministers meeting in Cairo tomorrow would discuss holding an emergency Arab summit on Gaza but Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Saud al-Faisal said: “There would be no benefit in attending an Arab summit for statements,” suggesting that Riyadh was not in favour of such a meeting.
But Gaza violence is unlikely to derail the GCC’s economic agenda as they seek to better co-ordinate fiscal policies to weather a global crisis that has sent major economies.
“It (the agenda) is going to be concentrated on domestic matters, on the economy,” Omani Minister of Foreign Affairs Youssef bin Alawi bin Abdullah said.
“They will try to avoid any further damage from the international financial crisis. In that regard, they need very strong coordination.”
Gulf states have so far adopted mostly separate monetary and fiscal policies to address the credit crunch that is derailing expansion projects and slowing economic growth prospects.
“The financial crisis will push us for co-ordination,” Makboul bin Ali bin Sultan, Omani minister of commerce and industry, said, adding the collapse in oil prices to about a quarter of their July record level was a great concern.
“The Gulf is not comfortable at all at this level,” he said.
