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

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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