Oman will withdraw from GCC if a union is formed: foreign minister

Oman's foreign minister refusal to be part of an upgraded GCC comes after a Saudi diplomat calls on Gulf states to unify against dangers in the region.

MANAMA // Oman opposes upgrading the Gulf Cooperation Council to a union of six nations, an idea first mentioned by Saudi Arabia, Muscat’s foreign minister said yesterday.

The union issue is on the agenda of the GCC summit to be held on Tuesday in Kuwait.

“We are against a union,” the Omani foreign minister, Yusuf bin Alawi, said at the Manama Dialogue in Bahrain.

Mr bin Alawi was speaking after the Saudi assistant foreign minister, Nizar Madani, in a speech called on Gulf states to unify against dangers in the region.

“We will not prevent a union, but if it happens we will not be part of it,” Mr bin Alawi said.

If the five other GCC members, the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Bahrain and Qatar, decide to form a union, “we will simply withdraw” from the new body, he said.

Riyadh’s idea of upgrading the GCC was first proposed in 2011 and supported by Bahrain. But because of reservations by some members, it was put on hold.

Kuwait and Qatar have since expressed their backing.

* Agence France-Presse