Al-Zayani: Gulf leaders keen to maintain GCC bloc cohesion

GCC Secretary General Abdullatif Al-Zayani said on Wednesday that Gulf nation leaders are keen to maintain inter-Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) cohesion among their countries and peoples. "Gulf countries become better and stronger by overcoming all obstacles," Al-Zayani told reporters following the conclusion of a ministerial committee tasked with following up on the implementation of joint action plans. He also stressed the importance of maintaining good relations amongst the six-nation bloc - Kuwait, Bahrain, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates. In addition, a consultative summit is to be held in Riyadh next May, the date of which has yet to be determined. The event will discuss the call of the Saudi King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz Al-Saud for upgrading the status of the geopolitical bloc, the GCC, from the level of cooperation to that of a union, he added