BAHRAIN TO PROCEED WITH GCC SUMMIT

C O N F I D E N T I A L MANAMA 001839 SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 12/09/2014 TAGS: PREL ETRD BA GCC SUBJECT: BAHRAIN TO PROCEED WITH GCC SUMMIT REF: MANAMA 1829 Classified By: Ambassador William T. Monroe. Reason: 1.4 (B)(D) (C) Bahrain Foreign Minister Shaykh Mohammed called the Ambassador December 9 to say that Bahrain, after reviewing recent developments regarding Saudi Arabia and the FTA (reftel),has decided that it will proceed with hosting the GCC Summit as scheduled on December 20-21. At the same time, he said, Bahrain is sticking to its position on its FTA with the U.S.: it was signed and it will go forward. If the Saudis wish to form a committee within the GCC context to study the possibilities for future FTAs, that can be considered. But it will not affect what Bahrain is doing, and Bahrain hopes it will not affect the position of the other GCC countries. MONROE