Gulf Arab leaders will urge Iran to stop nuclear race to avoid more instability in the region already affected by volatility in Iraq, a senior official said on Saturday. The six-nation Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), whose leaders meet on Sunday, will also call on Damascus to cooperate with a UN probe into the killing of a former Lebanese prime minister, GCC Secretary-General Abdul Rahman al-Attiya said, according to Reuters.
"We don't want a nuclear arms race in this region. We are very worried and concerned about this," he told reporters. "I think it is time for an agreement to have the Gulf region free of nuclear weapons. ... This will no doubt pave the way to urge Israel to submit its (nuclear) facilities (to inspection)," he told reporters in Abu Dhabi after Gulf foreign ministers met to draft the summit's agenda.
Regarding Syria, Attiya said the GCC was monitoring the progress of the U.N. probe. "We hope that everything will be done in the interest of truth," he said. "We are confident that the Syrian leadership is aware of all the steps it needs to take to achieve stability and preserve the brotherly and historic ties with Lebanon." ''The GCC states are concerned about Lebanon and what is happening there is not an easy thing ... the slain of former Prime Minister Rafiq Al Hariri and other recent assassinations are condemned ....in this context we express our support for Lebanon,'' he added.
