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Arab Gulf mulls nuclear weapons-free zone, asking Iran to join
(AP)
Updated: 2005-12-19 10:30

Arab leaders considered a plan Sunday to declare the Gulf a nuclear weapons-free zone and to persuade Iran to join in an attempt to reduce tensions with Tehran over its controversial nuclear program.

The two-day summit being held in the Emirates capital, Abu Dhabi, will also discuss the Lebanon-Syrian crisis, which has been fanned by a series of bombings that have killed four anti-Syrian critics in Lebanon, said Gulf Cooperation Council secretary-general Abdul Rahman Hamad al-Attiyah.

Leaders from the six GCC states have been watching with concern Iran's increasing confrontation with the West over its nuclear ambitions _ further exacerbated by recent anti-Israeli comments by Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.

They also have their own fears over Iran's nuclear program _ particularly that with a nuclear arsenal, Tehran would push its attempts to become the superpower in the Gulf.

The issue was weighing heavily on the summit that was officially opened Sunday by Emirates President Sheik Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan.

"We want Iran to be logical in dealing with the nuclear issue, in such a manner that it meets its peaceful purposes without inflicting damage on its neighbors," al-Attiyah was quoted as saying by the official Emirates News Agency.

"We have confidence in Iran, but we don't want to see an Iranian nuclear reactor that is closer to our territorial waters that it is to Tehran. This causes danger and harm to us," he said before the leaders later went into a closed-door session.

The Gulf leaders will consider an initiative to declare the region a region "free of nuclear weapons and weapons of mass destruction," then to seek to persuade Iran, Iraq and Yemen to join, he said. He said the initiative could be announced at a later date.

But the GCC summit will not issue any statements condemning Iran's controversial nuclear program, he said.

That reflected Gulf nations' reluctance to provoke Iran and seeming to side with the West in the confrontation over Tehran's nuclear plans. The United States accuses Iran of seeking to produce nuclear weapons, a a charge Iran denies, saying its program is intended only to produce electricity.

GCC leaders will also discuss the Lebanon-Syrian situation, al-Attiyah told reporters on the sidelines of the summit. He also condemned the spate of bombings in Lebanon, the most recent being Monday's attack that killed Lebanese lawmaker and anti-Syrian journalist Gibran Tueni.

Many Lebanese have blamed Syria for being behind the blasts. U.N. investigators have also implicated Syrian and Lebanese security officials in the February 14 assassination of ex-Lebanese premier Rafik Hariri, which sparked massive protests and the April withdrawal of Syrian soldiers from Lebanon.

GCC member Saudi Arabia has been among key countries prodding Syria to cooperate fully with the United Nations Security Council-ordered probe into the bombing that killed Hariri and 20 others.

The leaders of the Gulf Cooperation Council countries _ Saudi Arabia, Oman, Bahrain, Qatar, Kuwait and host the United Arab Emirates _ will hold at least one closed session in addition to bilateral meetings during the two-day summit dubbed "Fahd Summit" in honor of the late King Fahd of Saudi Arabia, who died in August.

The Gulf Cooperation Council is a loose military and political alliance that was formed in 1981 to devise a unified political, economic and military policy. However, it has achieved little and disputes have often developed between members states.

The leaders will also discuss the latest regional developments and anti-terrorism efforts. Also on the agenda is the issue of a unified market and a monetary union.

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