Sheikh Mohammad al-Khaled opens GCC interior ministers' meeting

 Kuwait's Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Interior Sheikh Mohammad Al-Khaled Al-Hamad Al-Sabah said Wednesday the Arabian Gulf region witnesses successive developments that require preparedness and timely responses.
In his inaugural speech to the 33rd meeting of the foreign ministers of the Gulf Cooperation COuncil (GCC) states here, Sheikh Mohammad Al-Khaled said that organized crime in all its forms developed remarkably in the recent years as their perpetrators tended to use hi-tech means intensively.
"We are required to use more effective mechanism to face up to this challenge. We need to lay down a clear-cut strategy for combating all crimes, particularly drug trafficking and money laundering through a concerted effort," he stressed.
"The security services and civil society in each country have to join forces in the combat against such crimes as narcotic addiction, money laundering, cybercrimes, credit card crimes," Sheikh Mohammad Al-Khaled said, noting that these organized crimes along with extremism pose a trans-border menace due to the spread of information and communication technology.
"No country can address this challenge of organized crime alone no matter how advanced such a country is. So the security services of each country need to work with their peers in friendly countries in order to reach the desired targets," he argued.
Sheikh Mohammad Al-Khaled recalled that the 83rd session of the Interpol general assembly recommended regional and international cooperation to achieve a comprehensive security concept.
He noted that the GCC made remarkable advances in security collaboration and became one of the most influential regional blocs.
"The GCC countries have an exemplary experiment in the field of security cooperation and other domains, and were able to prevent serious trans-border crimes in the recent years," he said, calling for more efforts to further upgrade the security services and launch a GCC police force.
In a similar speech to the meeting GCC Secretary-General Dr. Abdullatif bin Rashid Al-Zayani said the attempts of terrorist groups to destabilize the GCC countries proved to be a great failure thanks to "the coherence of the GCC security apparatuses and the vigilance of interior ministers." "The accelerated developments in the region resulted in the emergence of new security and social challenges foremost among which are the growth of extremist ideology and terrorist groups, and the spread of social media which facilitated the recruitment of youth in terrorist groups and the dissemination of tendentious rumors to undermine national unity," he said.
Dr. Al-Zayani urged the GCC security services to keep watch on the internal front of their countries and work together to maintain the security, stability and development gains.
"The planned GCC police force will give a quantum leap to the security collaboration among and joint efforts of the GCC countries. The technical committees have finalized the details of this security projects," he said, voicing hope that the interior ministers will kindly approve it as early as possible.
On his part, Bahraini Minister of Interior Lt.-Gen. Staff Sheikh Rashed bin Abdullah bin Hamad Al Khalifa said the GCC countries need to double effort in order to protect the achievements they have made in the domains of security and economic development.
"The crises and armed conflicts in some countries in the Arab region could have spillover on our GCC region which is targeted by terrorist groups through fomenting sectarian troubles among youths in our communities," he said.
"The spread of extremist ideology and the exacerbating of armed conflicts have polarized a lot of people around the globe, including the GCC region. This challenge requires intensive information sharing among the GCC security services in order to stem the growth of extremism and prevent terrorist crimes," Sheikh Al-Khalifa pointed out.
He noted the GCC countries have the ability, resolve and courage to reach the targets of security cooperation thanks to the consensus among their political leaders.
Sheikh Al-Khalifa extolled His Highness the Amir Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah - the current president of GCC summit, and Saudi King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz Al Saud for their efforts to bring the GCC countries closer to each other.
Qatar's Prime Minister and Interior Minister Sheikh Abdullah bin Nasser bin Khalifa Al-Thani invited the GCC interior ministers to hold their coming 34th meeting in his country.