GCC DISCUSSES COMMON THREAT OF TERRORISM

C O N F I D E N T I A L KUWAIT 003462 SIPDIS STATE FOR NEA/ARPI, S/CT E.O. 12958: DECL: 10/03/2014 TAGS: PREL PTER KU BA YM QA UE OM SUBJECT: GCC DISCUSSES COMMON THREAT OF TERRORISM REF: A. 03 KUWAIT 0537 ¶B. 03 KUWAIT 5805 Classified By: DCM Matthew H. Tueller for reason 1.4 (b) ¶1. (U) In preparation for an October 9-10 meeting of Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) Interior Ministers in Kuwait, GCC Interior Ministry Undersecretaries met in Kuwait on October 2 and 3 to discuss the common threat of terrorism and what steps the Council could take to further bolster their cooperation in the fight against extremism. ¶2. (U) Local dailies reported October 3 that the Undersecretaries from the six nations had reached agreement on a number of unspecified recommendations which would be taken up by their Interior Ministers during the October 9 and 10 meetings. "The GCC states are exerting tremendous efforts to ward off threats against them," said GCC Assistant Secretary General for Political Affairs Abdulkareem Mohammad SIPDIS Al-Hamadi. Characterizing the rise of extremist acts of violence as an "escalating epidemic," Hamali said the GCC always looked to strengthen security cooperation. ¶3. (U) English language daily Kuwait Times reported on October 3 that Kuwait's representative at the meetings, Lieutenant General Nasser Al-Othman said that developing a "coordinated effort to defeat (terrorism)" was the top priority for GCC member states. ¶4. (U) In addition, GCC Defense Ministers met on October 4th to discuss increased defense cooperation, reportedly including its proposed joint command structure and shared communications networks. (Note: The GCC deployed a combined force, known as Peninsula Shield, to Kuwait during OIF (Ref. A). End Note.) ¶5. (C) Comment: The recent spate of terrorist attacks in Saudi Arabia and the recognition that this type of violence could easily spill across borders has no doubt spurred the GCC into refocusing its attention on security cooperation. The GCC last addressed these issues during its December 2003 conference in Kuwait, when it agreed to enter into an anti-terror pact, but failed to specify a deadline (Ref. B). Given the GCC's track record of acting on its own proposals, it is unlikely that the planned meetings will result in any tangible security enhancements in the near future. LeBaron