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Doha: A two-day annual summit of the Gulf Cooperation Council's leaders started here on Monday with a warning that subsequent crises might spin "out of control" and to spare the region "the grave dangers" threatening the welfare of its people.
The summit host, Emir of Qatar Shaikh Hamad Bin Khalifa Al Thani also lamented the lack of attention Gulf states pay to scientific research.
"We are meeting today in climates of grave dangers threatening our homelands, the region and the world," he said in the opening address.
"They are dangers that not only affect security but also the means of progress, the levels of production, standards of living and welfare and all aspects of life in today's world," he told the five other leaders, who were joined for the first time by Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, invited to the summit as a guest.
The summit which ends on Monday is expected to outline the group's policies towards national and regional issues especially the future of economic integration, the Iran nuclear issue, Iraq and the recent Middle East peace conference.
Growing crises
Shaikh Hamad said the region was faced by a number of crises "ranging from the Iranian nuclear programme to the threatening armies and fleets mobilised in the Gulf waters, and the conditions in Iraq and their threat to the Arab nation; the growing concerns [over what is happening] in Pakistan; the dormant terrorist cells... and the chronic crisis arising from denial of the legitimate rights of the Palestinian people."
He warned "all parties involved" - in reference to the United States, Iran and other players - that they must "understand that all these conditions cannot endure more pressures, otherwise they would be out of control."
Real progress
He called upon the US, its allies and Iran to "reconsider their positions before it is too late, because disputes are not served by rushing to mutual intimidation and hate campaigns."
On the other hand, Shaikh Hamad said the rising oil prices gave the region enough wealth to "realise high development rates in various fields."
However, he said, "the field of scientific research in particular remains in need of further attention and care. Real progress requires that we become a source of knowledge in its various aspects and being capable of developing it and not mere consumers of it."
The summit is expected to call on the US and Iran to resort to dialogue to address the nuclear row. The leaders are also expected to support the US-backed drive to resume final status negotiations between the Palestinians and the Israelis.
The most important declaration would be announcing the birth of the long anticipated GCC Common Market on January 2008, according to GCC chief Abdul Rahman Al Attiyah.
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