By KUNA,
Brussels : Secretary-General of the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO) Jaap de Hoop Scheffer has expressed hope that Saudi Arabia and Oman will join the Istanbul Cooperation Initiative.
He made the statement in an exclusive interview with KUNA Tuesday ahead of the conference titled “NATO-Bahrain Relations and Istanbul Initiative,” due in Manama on Thursday.
“Kuwait, Bahrain, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) have joined the initiative. We hope the two other members of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) namely, Saudi Arabia and Oman, will follow suit.
“We are passing through a new era that requires more enhanced military cooperation to face up to common challenges,” Scheffer pointed out.
“The NATO and the GCC share the desire to build mutual confidence and understanding and exchange experience in various military areas.
“The two regional blocs need to work together to tap the promising opportunities offered by the Istanbul initiative,” he said, noting that no country in the world was immune to terrorist attacks.
NATO leaders launched the Istanbul Cooperation Initiative, an offer to engage in practical security cooperation activities with states throughout the Broader Middle East, on July 9, 2004. It stands alongside NATO’s long-standing Partnership for Peace programme and Mediterranean Dialogue as part of the way NATO is responding to the new challenges of the 21st century.
The Istanbul Cooperation Initiative (ICI) offers practical cooperation with interested nations in the Broader Middle East in such areas as counter-terrorism, counter-WMD, disaster preparedness and civil emergency planning, joint war games, and cooperation in border security to help prevent illicit trafficking of drugs, weapons, and human trafficking.
Kuwait joined the initiative in November, 2004, and hosted an international conference on December 12, 2006, when it signed a deal with NATO on exchange of intelligence. Bahrain, Qatar and the UAE signed up for the initiative in mid 2005.