MANAMA (The Thursday Times) — Interior ministers of the six Gulf Cooperation Council states have approved an electronic exchange of security data on people deported from member states, at their 43rd meeting in the Bahraini capital on Wednesday, according to statements issued after the meeting.
The ministers also approved a joint Gulf strategy to combat cybercrime and crimes involving artificial intelligence, and reviewed preparations for a joint tactical exercise by Gulf security agencies to be held in Kuwait in 2027.
They adopted two initiatives proposed by Bahrain’s interior minister, Lieutenant General Sheikh Rashid bin Abdullah Al Khalifa, who chaired the session: a comprehensive Gulf document on the security lessons of the regional crisis, and a committee of security experts to anticipate future threats to member states.
No details were given on how the data exchange on deportees will work or when it will take effect. The six Gulf states employ millions of migrant workers, including large numbers of Pakistanis.
Saudi warning on the Houthis
Addressing the session, Saudi Interior Minister Prince Abdulaziz bin Saud bin Naif said the security of the Gulf states was indivisible and that a threat against any one of them was a threat to the whole Gulf.
“The terrorist Houthi militia’s targeting of civilians and civilian and economic infrastructure in Saudi Arabia, as well as its blatant attacks on the Two Holy Mosques, are acts that cannot be justified under any pretext or in any form,” he said.
Saudi Arabia says its air defences have intercepted Houthi drones and missiles aimed at Riyadh and the Mecca region in recent days. The Houthis deny targeting Mecca.
Prince Abdulaziz said the region faced exceptional circumstances that required Gulf security services to move from responding to events to anticipating them. Saudi Arabia will host the ministers’ 44th meeting.
The interior ministers met a day after Gulf defence ministers, also meeting in Manama, agreed to base joint forces at a new military command in Kuwait.
