Gulf oil States confer

Press, 2 September 1981, Page 9

Gulf oil States confer

NZPA-Reuter Bahrain Foreign Ministers of six Arab oil States are meeting in the Saudi summer capital of Taif for talks on Gulf security, Saudi Arabia's recent initiative on the ArabIsraeli conflict,, and economic co-operation. The talks are the first detailed discussions of overall policy for the Gulf Cooperation Council, set up by Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Oman, and Bahrain in May to safeguard regional security and stability. The Gulf News Agency said it expected the six would adopt as joint policy a Saudi Arabian plan for peace, in the Middle East based on United Nations resolutions. Crown Prince Fahd of Saudi Arabia announced the eight-point plan earlier this month, demanding an independent Palestinian State and urging the United States to recognise the Palestine Liberation Organisation but conceding the right of all countries in the region, including Israel, to live in peace. - ; Gulf officials said Prince Fahd’s proposals were part of a Saudi campaign to influence President Reagan’s Administration as it starts to draw up its. policy on the Middle East. The Ministers have also been charged by heads of State with discussing their countries’ differing views on the threats to Gulf security and how best to counter them.

The six States produce 12 million barrels per day of oil. nearly a third of the nonCommunist world's total output. but are thinly-populated and militarily weak. The sultanate of Oman, with some sympathy from ■other members, has argued that priority should be given to military co-operation to counter what it sees as a danger from the Soviet Union and its allies in the area. -