December 29, 2008	Monday	Zilhaj 30, 1429

MUSCAT, Dec 28: The Gulf Cooperation Council’s annual summit in Oman will go ahead and focus on the global economic crisis, though Israel’s attacks on Gaza will also be discussed, the host country said on Sunday.

“The most appropriate reply to the events under way in the Palestinian situation would be for the Palestinian brothers to close ranks by reaching understanding and national unity,” Omani Information Minister Hamad Al-Rashidi said.

He added: “It is up to the UN Security Council to apply pressure for Israel to stop the attacks” which have left at least 280 Palestinians dead.

The GCC summit seemed under threat when Israel launched its air onslaught on the Hamas movement which has controlled the Gaza Strip since splitting with the Fatah organisation of Palestinian President Mahmud Abbas.

However, Omani Foreign Minister Yussef bin Alawi said foreign ministers of the six GCC countries are likely to meet on Sunday, with finance ministers also invited, to “put finishing touches to the agenda, including economic questions”. The official sessions of the summit are scheduled for Monday and Tuesday.

Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Saud Al-Faisal said in Riyadh that Gulf foreign ministers meeting in Muscat on Sunday will focus on “Israeli aggression” in the Gaza Strip, according to the official SPA news agency.

Riyadh is contacting neighbours and allies over “the blind use of force by Israel against the people under siege and occupation for more than 40 years”, Prince Saud said.

The GCC groups Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, which together sit on 25 per cent of the world’s natural gas reserves and 45 per cent of global oil reserves, providing one quarter of the world’s oil demands.—AFP