By Andrew Hammond and Angus McDowall
DUBAI/RIYADH, May 13 (Reuters) – Gulf Arab leaders meeting
on Monday are expected to announce closer political union,
starting with two or three countries including Saudi Arabia and
Bahrain, a government minister in Bahrain said.
Saudi Arabia and Bahrain might initially seek closer union,
local newspapers have reported, as both countries have accused
Shi’ite giant Iran of fomenting discontent among Shi’ite Muslims
against the Sunni dynasties that rule in both nations.
Tehran denies the charges.
“I expect there will be an announcement of two or three
countries. We can’t be sure but I have a strong expectation,”
Samira Rajab, minister of state for information affairs, said on
Sunday.
“Sovereignty will remain with each of the countries and they
would remain as U.N. members but they would unite in decisions
regarding foreign relations, security
, military and economy.”
The leaders of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), which
also includes Kuwait, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates and Oman,
meet in Riyadh as they grow increasingly concerned over Iran and
al Qaeda after the Arab uprisings.
The protest of majority Shi’ite Muslims in Bahrain against
the monarchy that is allied with the United States has not gone
away after a year.
Saudi security forces entered Bahrain in March 2011 before a
crackdown on the revolt, which Riyadh fears has the potential to
spill over into Saudi Arabia’s Shi’ite-populated Eastern
Province region, where major Saudi oilfields are located. The
Saudis also accuse Tehran of instigating protests among their
Shi’ite minority.
Bahrain’s prime minister, Khalifa bin Salman Al Khalifa, who
has close ties to the Saudi ruling family, is already in Riyadh,
where he was quoted as urging closer integration.
“The great dream of the peoples of the region is to see the
day when the borders disappear with a union that creates one
Gulf,” he told Bahrain News Agency.
Gulf leaders also fear the Arab uprisings last year created
more opportunities for al Qaeda to gain a foothold in Yemen,
where the discovery of another alleged bomb plot was revealed
last week.
Rajab said, however, that there were reservations among some
GCC members over the idea of a closer union, and that it was too
early to say if any agreement taken among Gulf leaders would
require a referendum in Bahrain or not.
Some members of the GCC fear a closer union might grant too
much sway to the body’s largest member, Saudi Arabia.
Jamal Fakhro, the deputy head of Bahrain’s appointed upper
house of parliament, said he thought an announcement of
Saudi-Bahraini unity unlikely now.
“It will be on the agenda and I think there might be an
effort to say that kings and rulers support unity of the GCC
countries, but no (formal) announcement,” he said.
“It will not be an easy achievement to have one foreign
policy between six countries unless it’s limited to specific
issues,” he added.
