Jarallah: Inter-Gulf differences to vanish soon

Inter-Gulf divergent views are to disappear soon as there are positive signs for containing them, Undersecretary of the Kuwaiti Foreign Ministry Khaled Al-Jarallah said here on Wednesday. "Matters are tending favorably towards containing (inter-Gulf) differences and burying the hatchet," Al-Jarallah said to reporters following a GCC meeting. The fact that the meeting was not affected by differences among GCC member states reflected their keenness to maintain the Gulf bloc and experiment with a view to fulfilling relevant expectations and hopes. Asked about Kuwait's role to contain inter-Gulf differences, Al-Jarallah said: "Kuwait, thank God, has played a role and announced willingness to do any part that could contribute to the firmness and unity of the GCC countries." Asked when Kuwait could sign a Gulf security pact, he said the agreement was now in the court of the National Assembly (parliament), hoping that it would be approved soon so that Kuwait could join the mutual Gulf process to handle the security conditions of the GCC countries. On Iran's recent "moderate" statements towards the GCC, the Kuwaiti official said: "We are looking optimistically at this Iranian open-minded discourse." In this regard, he voiced satisfaction with the recent nuclear agreement between Iran and the 5+1 Group as a sign of Tehran's goodwill towards regional security and stability. On Lebanon's Hezbollah group, Al-Jarallah said Kuwait commits to relevant Gulf resolutions, especially those related to Gulf security and safety. But, he said it was up to the GCC interior ministers to decide how to deal with the Lebanese group. On the GCC meeting held here earlier in the day, the Kuwaiti official reiterated the GCC leaders' keenness to implement all GCC resolutions in order to ensure regional stability and meet public expectations and ambitions