By NNN-KUNA,
United Nations : US envoy Zalmay Kalilzad late Friday said US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice has invited the foreign ministers of the six Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC); Egypt, Iraq and Jordan; the Security Council’s five permanent members (P5); and Germany to meet here next Tuesday to discuss security in the Gulf.
The Iranian nuclear file will also be discussed, according to another western diplomat.
So far, only the foreign ministers of Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, the United Arab Emirates, Iraq, Jordan, the UK and Russia have confirmed their participation.
The remaining states have not responded yet or responded saying they will be represented at the ambassadorial level.
The GCC countries are Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, UAE, Bahrain and Oman. The P5 are US, UK, France, Russia and China.
The diplomat said the meeting will be a continuation of the Sharm El-Sheikh meeting some months ago.
The meeting will be held in the margins of a Quartet ministerial meeting and a number of Arab ministers scheduled for next Monday.
The council will be busy next week with the adoption of a resolution on the Middle East, on Somalia piracy, the situation in Zimbabwe and ending the Multi-National Force mandate in Iraq.