HE the Foreign Minister Dr Khalid bin Mohamed al-Attiyah and US Secretary of State John Kerry addressing a joint press conference.
QNA/Doha
The joint meeting of the GCC foreign ministers with US Secretary of State John Kerry, which was held here yesterday, was constructive and strategic, HE the Foreign Minister Dr Khalid bin Mohamed al-Attiyah said, adding that it covered a number of issues of concern to the GCC member countries and the United States.
At a joint news conference with his US counterpart after the meeting, the Foreign Minister said: “The US Secretary of State briefed us on the details of the nuclear deal between Iran and the P5+1 group, and we congratulate Mr Kerry on the efforts made over the past year to get to this result.”
“The agreement with Iran is the most appropriate choice to address the issue of nuclear weapons through dialogue, and this is what has been done thanks to the great efforts made by the United States and its allies .. And what has been done will ensure more secure and stable region.”
He said that the discussions during yesterday’s meeting focused on the outcomes of the Camp David summit and the mechanisms of work for the six joint committees, in addition to all aspects of co-operation with the United States in political, military and security fields. “We addressed the situation in the region in Syria, Iraq and Yemen, and we reached similar positions in these matters.”
Asked about the stance of GCC states towards the nuclear deal with Iran after meeting with the US secretary of state, HE al-Attiyah said GCC states look “with hope” to the agreement with Iran and “always aim to have endeavours that would lead to security and stability in the region.”
The Foreign Minister said GCC states welcomed “what has been displayed and talked about” by the US Secretary of State on the basis that the United States and the other five countries “have all the knowledge and the capabilities that would enable them to deal with such nuclear issue.”
He added that Kerry “let us know that there’s going to be a kind of live oversight for Iran not to gain or to get any nuclear weapons.” “This is reassuring to the region. We wish even further things. We hope that we [are] going to have a kind of a ban on nuclear weapons not only with respect to Iran, but in the entire Middle East.”
On the intensive diplomatic presence and talks being held in Doha, HE al-Attiyah said consultations have been taking place with friends, including the United States, “since the beginning of the crises that have started in the Middle East, particularly Syria.”
“We continuously did so through...mutual, bilateral meetings or through the GCC Council. So this meeting complements the very strategic dialogues that have taken place between the GCC countries and the United States of America.
“Our friends in Russia have asked to take part for them to have the opportunity to consult vis-a-vis the Syrian cause and also try to find a kind – a political solution in Syria that we all underline here.
“My friend, colleague, John, talked about the least that should be achieved when it comes to a political solution. He said that the president of Syria is an illegitimate president and we cannot find a decisive military solution in Syria. That is what we are aiming: to have a political solution. We are consulting amongst friends to be able to find the political solution that would make the Syrian people exit from this very dire crisis that they have been living in excess of five years,” al-Attiyah added.
The US Secretary of State stressed his country’s commitment to the security and stability of this region, adding that they discussed during their meeting today a range of issues of joint concern as well as the relations between the United States and the GCC member-states and means of enhancing them.
Kerry said that a joint statement outlining many of the points that were discussed and agreed yesterday will be released.
Regarding yesterday’s discussions on the nuclear deal with Iran, the US Secretary of State said: “It contributes to the region’s long-term security, including by preventing Iran from developing or acquiring a military nuclear capability.”
“Today my counterparts and I have discussed the steps that we will take and how we intend to build an even stronger, more enduring and more strategic partnership with particular focus on our co-operative counterterrorism, counterinsurgency, and also on our co-operation in countering the destabilising activities taking place in the region.”
“We discussed, for example, our work on an integrated ballistic missile defence capability and expediting certain arms transfers. We also discussed enhancing our co-operation on combatting violent extremism and on maritime security,” Kerry said, adding that the meeting focused on a range of regional challenges, including the fight against Daesh and other violent extremists.
“The United States particularly condemns the recent attacks in Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, and Bahrain, and we stand united in our efforts to deter and defeat the people who are responsible for these heinous crimes,” he said.
On Iraq, the US Secretary of State said they agreed to continue to assist the government of Iraq in degrading and defeating Daesh as well as to support measure of reforms to be implemented.
“I also might comment to people that we’re very proud that over the course of the last several weeks, or a month or so, 100,000 Sunnis have returned to their homes in Tikrit - something that only a few months ago seemed unimaginable.”
The US Secretary of State announced that his country will contribute an additional $62mn in assistance to displaced and needy Iraqis. “With this new funding, the United States has now provided more than $475mn in humanitarian assistance to the region in the last year and a half.”
Kerry said yesterday’s meeting touched on the situation in Syria, adding that “a first trilateral meeting between Saudi Arabia, the United States, and Russia” was going to be held to discuss the issue.
“The policy of the United States with respect to Syria is clear. We believe that Assad and the Assad regime long ago lost legitimacy, in part because of his regime’s continued brutality against the Syrian people themselves. And that has been a magnet for foreign fighters, drawing them to Syria, fueling the rise of Daesh and other violent extremist groups.
“And since there is no military solution to Syria’s challenges, there has to obviously be a political solution. We continue to support the moderate Syrian opposition, along with our GCC partners and other global coalition partners, and we will remain relentless in our mission to eliminate the safe haven that Daesh has found within Syria,” Kerry added during the press conference.
As for Yemen, Kerry said the consultations agreed that “the best way forward” is to return to the agreed political transition process in line with the GCC initiative and the outcome of the national dialogue.
“The United States will stand by our GCC partners in condemning the continued destabilising activities – the military activities of the Houthis, which have a very damaging impact on the peace and security of Yemen and the abilities of anybody to provide basic services to the Yemeni people. We will continue to urge all parties in Yemen to allow for humanitarian organisations to quickly and safely reach all the Yemenis throughout the country,” said Kerry.
On the situation in Libya, Kerry called on the Libyan decision makers to “join in supporting a political agreement that will lead to the formation of a government of national accord.”
“There’s an opportunity for us to work together and to plan together and to achieve together the goals that we share for the region and the world. That was the purpose of the meeting at Camp David; that was the purpose of today’s follow-up meeting. We have working groups that will start meeting as of tomorrow in Riyadh, elsewhere over the course of the next three weeks.
“Those working groups will be piecing together a more detailed agenda, an agenda for not just co-operation but for action, by which we will raise the capacity of all of us in the region to be able to push back against destabilising activities by anybody and also to help build the long-term peace, security, and stability that this region hopes for so fervently,” Kerry added.
