Foreign ministers of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) will hold an extraordinary meeting in Jeddah Sunday in the aftermath of the terror attacks in the United States.
The ministers will discuss "ways to coordinate positions and unify efforts toward the current developments" following the September 11 suicide attacks in New York and Washington, and the US threat to target terrorists in retaliatory strikes, an official at the GCC general secretariat told AFP.
The meeting was called by Bahrain, which currently holds the GCC presidency.
"Bahrain proposed holding this extraordinary meeting for talks and coordination on developments in the situation regionally and internationally," the official GNA news agency said.
But GCC Secretary General Jamil Al Hujailan ruled out an extraordinary Gulf summit, the Okaz newspaper said, cited by the paper.
Leaders of the GCC, which groups Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, meet in an official summit every year in December and hold a "consultation" meeting in May.
The United States has launched a diplomatic drive to build a global anti-terrorism coalition in the wake of the attacks that left thousands dead.
The Gulf monarchies were quick to denounce the outrages and said they were prepared to help in the US anti-terror campaign.
Meanwhile, the Gulf Daily News said that the foreign ministers were discussing growing calls from Gulf Arabs for an international alliance to stop Israeli attacks on Palestinians.
UAE President Shaikh Zayed has proposed the setting up of a "parallel alliance to press for a just and lasting solution to the Middle East conflict."
This plan is being studied in tandem with ways the GCC can support the US-led coalition against terrorism after last week's suicide attacks on America, said the paper.
The meeting in Jeddah Sunday follows Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Saud Al Faisal's talks in Washington, in which he urged the US to pursue justice rather than vengeance in its campaign to get those behind the attacks.
Saudi Arabia reiterated its support for the Palestinian cause during a meeting here yesterday between its defense minister and Palestinian President Yasser Arafat, the official Saudi Press Agency reported – Albawaba.com
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