11 October 2004	Monday	25 Shaban 1425

KUWAIT, Oct 10: Gulf Arab states said after security talks on Sunday they had agreed to boost co-operation against Al Qaeda militants, drug trafficking and money laundering in the oil-rich region.

The six Gulf states of the Gulf Co-operation Council (GCC), a loose political and economic alliance, said in a final communiqué they agreed specific steps, including cross-border and coastguard co-operation to combat smuggling and infiltration. But the interior ministers from Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, the United Arab Emirates, Oman, Qatar and Bahrain did not activate a May counter-terrorism pact reached on sharing intelligence and cutting red tape, saying it still needed work.

"It's going through measures for implementation," GCC Secretary General Abdul Rahman al-Attiya said after the meeting. Some ministers had said they hoped to put it in practice.

The communiqué said the ministers agreed to swap information in their fight against Al Qaeda-allied extremists, including their knowledge of Internet crime.

Al Qaeda militants waging a violent campaign since May last year against the monarchy in Saudi Arabia have made extensive use of the Internet for propaganda and training. -Reuters