'No GCC objections to Admit Jordan' - Saudi Ambassador


07-12-2011 12:00 AM

Ammon News - By Banan Malkawi

AMMONNEWS - The Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) has not rejected Jordan's bid to join the regional bloc, the Saudi Ambassador to Jordan said, dismissing statements made by GCC officials last week that indicated that there is no consensus among the Gulf nations to admit Jordan into the council.

Fahad Abdul Muhsin Al Zaid, Ambassador of Saudi Arabia in Amman, told media outlets on Monday that measures and discussions on the conditions set for Jordan to join the six-member GCC are underway, stressing that Jordan's bid to join the GCC is on track.

Regarding statements made by Gulf officials last week indicating that the GCC has not reached an agreement to admit Jordan into the Gulf bloc, Al Zaid said that the statements were 'misunderstood.'

He noted that joining any regional or international league must go through proper channels to meet the measures and conditions set, stressing that "there is no turning back on GCC's invitation to Jordan to become a member."

"GCC nations are serious about the invitation to admit Jordan and will not retract," Al Zaid said, stressing however that the such a measure is a gradual process that takes time.

He added that discussions are ongoing regarding the conditions that must be met by Jordan to join Gulf regional bloc, such as the financial, health, and educational systems, in addition to standards and customs.

"Jordan is close to GCC nations in its political values," Al Zaid said, adding that Jordan has received an official invitation to join, but it depends on Jordan's readiness to meet the conditions.

The Saudi Ambassador denied in statements to Jordanian press that there are any pressures working against Jordan's joining of the GCC, stressing however that the measures need to be considered "to avoid the mistakes of the European Union which admitted Eastern European nations as new members."

The GCC's Public Assembly is taking measures for Jordan's inclusion "step by step," Al Zaid said, clarifying that the GCC does not have a specified and determined mechanism for the joining of other nations since the GCC was established with the membership of the six Gulf nations at once.

Al Zaid noted that the 5-year Gulf grant to Jordan, valued at $5 million, aims to help Jordan to begin implementing the conditions of joining the GCC and to rejuvenate the Jordanian economy.

The Saudi Ambassador called on the Jordanian Foreign Ministry to be transparent and inform Jordanian media outlets on the progress of Jordan's bid to join the GCC, "so that transparency would prevent misunderstanding and rumors."







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