NATO
Wants To Cooperate with Gulf States Against Terror
By AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE, DOHA: 12/01/05
NATO’s
Secretary General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer proposed Dec. 1
closer cooperation with the resource-rich Arab countries in
fighting terror, warning that the
Gulf
states
face major obstacles.
“It is
clear that this region faces formidable security
challenges,” said de Hoop Scheffer at a conference in the
Qatari capital.
“Several countries in this region have been the target of
terrorist attacks. And your immediate neighborhood remains a
flashpoint of unresolved regional issues, of proliferation
risks, and of political and religious extremism.”
De Hoop
Scheffer said the new security threats facing the world, and
NATO’s changing role and mission after the end of the Cold
War, are behind the interest in cooperating with Gulf
countries.
He said
this cooperation could include defense reform, crisis
management and civil emergency planning as well as
military-to-military contacts, exercises and education.
De Hoop
Scheffer spoke at the one-day NATO and Security in the Gulf
conference, which was attended by U.S., European and Gulf
security and defense officials.
Among
those present was Gordon Gray, U.S. deputy assistant
secretary of state.
Many of
the Gulf countries are staunch allies of the United States
in its war on terror.
The
U.S. military already maintains bases in Bahrain and Kuwait
and has an important presence in Qatar and the United Arab
Emirates.
Saudi
Arabia,
which has been the scene of several deadly bombings and
attacks on Westerners over the past two years, continues to
battle alleged members of the al-Qaida terror network.
A
suicide bomber in Qatar in March killed one Briton and
wounded 12 people, while clashes in Kuwait between security
forces and militants in January left three people dead.
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