ARAB AFFAIRS - Dec 19 - GCC Calls For Nuclear-Free Middle East.

GCC leaders end their summit calling for a nuclear-free Middle East and backing a Saudi proposal to strengthen the Peninsula Shield, a joint force of the six-member GCC. The leaders of Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Bahrain, Oman, Kuwait and the UAE appealed to the international community to make the Middle East, including the Gulf region, a zone free of WMD, the final communique said. The summit called on "Israel to adhere to the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty and to open all its nuclear installations for international inspection". Amid mounting international pressure on Iran over its nuclear program, GCC Sec-Gen Abdul Rahman Al-Attiya urged Tehran to join the group in its pledge to keep the region free of nuclear weapons. UAE FM Abdullah Al-Nuaimi demanded environmental "guarantees and protection" from an Iranian nuclear plant on the Gulf coast. "We are in a region very close to the (Iranian) nuclear reactor in Bushehr. We have no guarantees or protection against any leakage (from the reactor) which is on the Gulf coast", he told reporters after the summit. The UAE minister commented on a message from Arab League Sec-Gen Amr Moussa to the GCC summit, in which Moussa expressed his "concerns about Israel's nuclear program". "We share his concerns... but we in the Gulf also have our own concerns and fears", Nuaimi said. "I hope that Amr Moussa would take into consideration the GCC states when he talks about the concerns of the Arabs", he added, in reference to Iran's nuclear program. Israel is widely believed to possess around 200 nuclear warheads, making it the only nuclear power in the Middle East, although it has never admitted to having atomic weapons. According to the communique, the summit supported the proposals made by Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah toward developing the Peninsula Shield. It urged the council of GCC defense ministers to study the proposals and make their recommendations to the next summit, which will be held in Riyadh. The GCC leaders also lauded the legislative elections in Iraq and hoped that the results "would turn a new page in the history of Iraq which would secure the territorial integrity of Iraq and its stability". UAE Pres Shaikh Khalifa ibn Zayed Al-Nahayan opened the summit on Dec 18 urging GCC members that they had to move more rapidly to integrate their economies and reform their educational and political systems in order to meet the aspirations of their peoples. The "Abu Dhabi Declaration" of the GCC leaders talked about the need for a radical modernisation of the education systems. It also called for greater efforts to promote scientific research and technological development. The summit did not discuss the proposal made by GCC labor ministers that restricts the stay of expatriate workers in the member countries to six years, Al-Attiya said. "The ministerial council after discussing the issue in detail recommended that the proposal be returned to the labor ministers for further study", the GCC chief said. The summit welcomed Saudi Arabia's joining of the World Trade Organisation and affirmed that the move would support the GCC's march forward and as an important element in creating a stable global economy. The leaders reviewed progress on GCC Customs Union and its positive impact in increasing inter-GCC trade and endorsed a proposal exempting certain commodities from customs duties. The provisional dateline for achieving the Customs Union was extended to 2007. On the issue of GCC common market, the council reviewed the progress made during this year, particularly in the area of buying and trading shares. A proposal by the economic and financial co-operation committee to extend the scope of economic activities for GCC nationals to include ownership of recruitment offices, car rental and cultural activities was adopted by the council.