By NNN-SPA,
Riyadh : Secretary-General of Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) Abdulrahman bin Hamad Al-Atiyyah has held a meeting here with the Secretary-General of ASEAN Dr Surin Pitsuwan.
During the meeting Sunday, the two sides reviewed a number of issues and events of common interest, especially the developments of the Palestinian cause, the peace process in the Middle East, the situation in Iraq, the relations with Iran and its continued occupation of the three islands of the United Arab Emirates and developments of the Iranian nuclear file.
They emphasized the importance of peaceful solutions and constructive dialogue to address all regional and international issues in addition to developments in Lebanon, Sudan and Somalia.
They valued the results of the “World Conference on Dialogue” held on July 16-18, 2008 in Madrid under the patronage and support of King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz to activate the dialogue between the followers of religions and cultures. They praised the statement issued by the conference.
The two sides reviewed regional and international efforts to combat terrorism and stressed that terrorism is a global intellectual phenomenon and combating terrorism requires the unification of efforts regionally and internationally and they renewed their condemnation of all forms of terrorist acts, whatever might be a source or place.
They also reviewed the economic relations between the two sides and developments in this regard.
The two sides looked forward to further development and cooperation in the relations between them.
The meeting was attended by Assistant Secretaries General and a number of senior officials in the Secretariat as well as heads of missions and states of ASEAN accredited to Saudi Arabia.