ABU DHABI, Dec 6, (Agencies): His High-ness the Amir Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah, at the opening of the 31st summit of the GCC Mon-day, condemned the terrorist acts in Saudi Arabia and voiced solidarity with Riyadh in the fight against all types of terrorism.
Sheikh Sabah, the outgoing chairman of the GCC’s previous session, said the GCC countries rejected all forms of terrorism and were thus condemning all terrorist actions plotted and carried out in Saudi Arabia. He expressed GCC’s full solidarity with Saudi Arabia in the fight against terrorism.
Sheikh Sabah regretted the stalled peace process between the Palestinians and Israelis due to the Jewish state’s stubbornness in continuing with the building of settlements on occupied Palestinian territories.

The Amir called on the parties concerned, specially the US as a major sponsor of the peace process, the Middle East Quartet and the international community to force Israel to halt the settlement activities, and implement the UN resolutions to achieve just and lasting peace.
This peace, added the Kuwaiti leader, would be only achieved via the establishment of the independent and viable Palestinian state.
Sheikh Sabah said developments in Lebanon required collaboration of efforts to confront its domestic challenges.
He called on Iran to take serious steps to end the occupation of the three United Arab Emirates (UAE) islands — Greater and Lesser Tonbs and Abu Moussa — either by direct negotiations or resorting to the International Court of Justice (ICJ).

Sheikh Sabah called for addressing the Iranian nuclear file via peaceful and diplomatic means.
The Amir, meanwhile, congratulated Saudi Arabia for the successful operation of King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz, praising to Allah to bestow him with lasting health to serve his country and support the development of the GCC.
He further congratulated the UAE and Bahrain for their 39th National Days.
He congratulated Sultan Qaboos bin Saeed on the occasion of Oman’s National Day.
Sheikh Sabah also congratulated Qatari Amir Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa Al-Thani for his country winning the bid to host World Cup 2022, “which is an achievement not only for Qatar but the entire Gulf and Arab countries.”
Sheikh Sabah, hoping the new Iraqi government will meet aspirations of the Iraqi people, said the 31st summit was an “added pillar” for the GCC march, which has been backed by the GCC leaders during the past three decades thus enabling the GCC to occupy a leading role at the regional and international levels.

The Amir lauded GCC Secretary General Abdulrahman Al-Attiyah for his services. Al-Attiyah will be succeeded by Abdullatif Rashed Al-Zayyani of Bahrain next April.
Leaders of the Gulf Arab nations open two days of talks were, dominated by their growing concern over Iran’s disputed nuclear program, with one senior military official calling for greater Gulf cooperation in missile defense.
The annual summit in Abu Dhabi, capital of the United Arab Emirates, is held in the wake of the publication of leaked US diplomatic memos that revealed deeper concern by Gulf leaders over Iran’s nuclear program than had previously been expressed publicly — even a desire by several to see the United States destroy Iran’s nuclear facilities.

The summit coincides with the start in Geneva on Monday of a new round of nuclear talks between Iran and world powers and comes a day after Iran said it had delivered its first domestically mined raw uranium to a processing facility, claiming self-sufficiency over the entire nuclear fuel cycle.
The West says Iran’s nuclear program is geared toward acquiring nuclear weapons. Tehran denies the charge, insisting that its objective is to generate electricity.
Ahead of the talks, a senior Emirates military commander underlined the need for a region-wide missile defense system, warning of the threat of ballistic missiles — a thinly veiled reference to Iran’s missile program.
“We must be prepared to defend our people, our nation and our region against any emerging threat,” Maj. Gen. Ali al-Kaabi, the UAE’s deputy chief of staff, told a defense conference on Sunday, according to the state-backed daily The National.

“The threat of attack by long-range ballistic missiles remains clear,” he said. “Many countries have ballistic missiles, some of which are working on weapons of mass destruction like nuclear, chemical or biological. If any of these weapons were launched, thousands or even millions of lives could be lost.”
The Emirates is looking for the GCC to be part of the negotiations between Iran and the West — reflecting Gulf nations’ feeling that they are directly threatened in the conflict.
“We are not part of the problem, but we want to be part of the solution,” said a UAE government official who spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the subject. “We cannot continue to live in the shadow of this threat.”
The United States has sold Patriot missile defense systems to several Gulf countries, including the Emirates, Kuwait, Bahrain and Qatar — drawing complaints from Iran. Al-Kaabi’s comments suggested a desire among some Gulf leaders to expand and coordinate missile defenses.
The Gulf summit, held at the opulent surroundings of Abu Dhabi showpiece seaside Emirates Palace Hotel, will also look into some of the long elusive issues like monetary union between member states as well as greater cooperation in defense and economic planning.
The threat from an increasingly active al-Qaida in Yemen, an impoverished and mostly lawless nation in the southern corner of the Arabian Peninsula, is also high on the agenda of the Gulf leaders from Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Bahrain, Kuwait and Oman.
Al-Qaida in Yemen is blamed for a series of attempted terror attacks in the United States over the past year in addition to a failed attempt on the life of a Saudi counterterrorism official. The six Gulf nations are concerned that the group, if left unchecked, could turn more of its attention toward them.
“The GCC countries are very disappointed by the leaks as they are usually hushed in their political stances... (but) they have never openly called for a strike on Iran,” Gulf analyst Abdulwahab Badrkhan told AFP.
Outgoing GCC secretary general Abdulrahman al-Attiyah told AFP world powers must “coordinate with and consult GCC countries because we are six states neighbouring Iran... and there are political matters which we should be consulted and informed about regarding its nuclear programme.”
Badrkhan said, however, relations between the United States and its Gulf allies would not be directly affected as the need to maintain good ties between both sides is mutual.
“Gulf countries need Washington and Washington needs Gulf countries, based on the oil, economic and strategic interests both sides share,” he said.
The GCC nations, which sit on 45 percent of the world’s proven crude oil reserves and around one fifth of its natural gas, have welcomed the recovery of oil prices to more than 80 dollars a barrel.