Minister Responsible for Foreign Affairs Yusuf bin Alawi bin Abdallah said a committee supervised by the foreign ministry was preparing a ‘comprehensive future plan’ for harnessing nuclear energy for peaceful purposes in the country. He, however, stressed that it was not an ‘easy’ issue and would take plenty of time to tackle and decide on in view of its effects on the environment and society.
“A nuclear fault cannot be rectified,” he observed during a Press conference here on Wednesday. Abdallah said the subject of energy had assumed vital importance worldwide due to the escalating cost of oil. Like other countries, the GCC states too had decided to explore alternative energy sources, including nuclear energy.
“Oman is a member of a plan supervised by the secretariat-general (of the GCC) in collaboration with the IAEA,” he added.
Answering a question on the possibility of Yemen becoming a full member of the GCC, Abdallah said: “Yemen is an important part of us and vice versa,” also noting that it had already joined a number of affiliate organisations of the bloc. He clarified that there were no differences among the six member states on relations with Sana’a.
“Yemen is experiencing certain conditions that make it unable for it to have full membership of the GCC,” the minister said, pointing out that consultations were ongoing among GCC countries to enhance economic support to Yemen.
