* Kuwait to host Syria donor meeting in late January * GCC to provide security umbrella for its citizens MANAMA – A two-day annual summit of Gulf states opened here Monday with a call for closer economic integration and unity. Addressing the 33rd summit on behalf of King Abdullah, Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques, Crown Prince Salman Bin Abdul Aziz, Deputy Premier and Minister of Defense, said: “We aspire for a strong union with integrated economies, a joint foreign policy and a common defense system.” “What we have achieved so far does not rise to the level of our hopes and aspirations. Hence, We have to exert continuous efforts to realize the aspirations of our people,” the Crown Prince said reading the King's speech. “I appreciate your positive response during last year's Riyadh Summit to my proposal to go beyond the stage of cooperation to the stage of union in one entity that achieves the good and wards off evil. This point was emphasized by the specialized commission formed later to work out the goals of such an entity. Accordingly, the Kingdom presented a draft plan for the basic system of the Union in line with the recommendations of the commission. I look forward to formation of the strong union to realize the collective security of our states as well as our sovereignty and preventing interference in our internal affairs,” he said. Bahrain's King Hamad Bin Isa in his keynote speech underlined the need to pursue joint action and unified policy if the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) is to face up the responsibilities that lie ahead. “Practical plans for economic, defense and security integration shall be set forth to attain full GCC citizenship, reflecting our firm cohesion and policy,” he said. “Joint Arab action will be cemented for a better future for the Arab nation, and to support Arab rights, namely the right of the Palestinian people to establish their independent state with Al-Quds as its capital, and to create a world free of conflicts, wars, terrorism and piracy, and adopt the principle of coexistence and tolerance among the different religions, cultures and civilizations,” he added. King Hamad commended contributions of King Abdullah, Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques, during his presidency of the GCC Supreme Council for the last one year. On behalf of the government and people of Bahrain, he greeted King Abdullah on his recovery after a successful back surgery. Kuwait's Emir Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Sabah called for humanitarian aid for Syrian civilians and urged Iran to reach a peaceful settlement with neighbors, including over three Gulf islands. He announced a donor conference for civilians caught up in the Syrian conflict to be held at the end of January at the request of the United Nations. “The Syrian wound is still bleeding, and the killing machine still continues, killing dozens of our brothers in Syria each day,” he told the summit. “In response to Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, there will be an international conference for donors for the Syrian people. Kuwait has agreed to host the conference, which will take place at the end of January.” Sheikh Sabah said an end to the Syrian crisis looked far off, and the situation “requires the international community to take swift and effective measures for humanitarian support.” The two-day summit is to focus on strengthening “Gulf unity... especially politically, economically, in defense, security and culturally,” Bahrain's Foreign Minister Sheikh Khaled Bin Ahmed Al-Khalifa said Sunday. The leaders will also discuss plans to expand a security treaty they signed in 1994 with the aim of increasing security cooperation. “The summit is taking place under extremely sensitive and delicate circumstances, whose impact must (on Gulf states) must be studied,” said GCC Secretary General Abdellatif Zayani ahead of the meeting. The overall gross domestic product in 2011 of the GCC states – Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, the UAE and Saudi Arabia – amounted to $1.37 trillion, a diplomatic source said.
