Foreign Minister Prince Saud Al-Faisal headed the Kingdom's delegation to the 71st conference of the foreign ministers of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) held in Riyadh yesterday under the chairmanship of UAE foreign minister Rashid Bin Abdullah Al-Nuaimi.  After the meeting, GCC Secretary-General Jameel Bin Ibrahim Al-Hujeilan reported that since certain issues need more time, discussion of them would be postponed to a later date, to be set by the secretariat.

In his opening address yesterday, Minister Al-Nuaimi stated that although Iran has failed to respond to its peaceful call for a negotiated settlement to the dispute of the three islands, the UAE will deal with Iran in a friendly manner taking into account the bonds of Islam and neighborly relations.  On other international matters, he urged Iraq to implement the resolutions adopted by the UN Security Council including release of prisoners of war, both Kuwaiti and non-Kuwaiti;  he exhorted Israel to adopt a positive policy so as to facilitate reactivation the Middle East peace process; he deplored the repressive measures taken by the Serbs against the people of Kosovo; and called on Pakistan and India to practice self-restraint and to work for a peaceful settlement for the Kashmiri problem.

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