GCC ministerial statement to strengthen cooperation & combat terrorism

The heads of delegations of the GCC ministerial meeting held in Riyadh, the 152nd session of the Ministerial Council, were led by the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Prince Faisal bin Farhan, with the participation of the GCC Secretary-General, Dr. Nayef Al-Hajraf.

The GCC Ministerial Council reaffirmed its rejection of all forms of violence and extremism, as well as member states’ commitment to continue their efforts within the international coalition to combat the terrorist organization ISIS.

The Ministerial Council guaranteed ISIS’ definitive defeat in Iraq and Syria, while also combating the terrorist danger presented by the group in other parts of the world and safeguarding coalition victories against ISIS via complete and thorough coordination of stabilization activities.

The Council reaffirmed the UN’s designation of the Houthi militias as a terrorist organization and its enforcement of a weapons ban on them.

It urged all nations to add the Houthi organization to their terrorist lists, as well as to aggressively oppose the hazardous proliferation of missile and drone technologies utilized by non-state extremist groups in Yemen and abroad.

On May 7, 2022, the Ministerial Council denounced a terrorist attack on a water pumping station west of Sinai in the Arab Republic of Egypt and reaffirmed its condemnation of all kinds of violence and terrorism aimed at disrupting security and stability in Egypt.

The Ministerial Council condemned the terrorist bombings that occurred in the Islamic Republic of Pakistan’s south on April 26, 2022, near a Chinese institute at the University of Karachi, which resulted in several deaths, emphasizing the importance of holding the perpetrators, organizers, and financiers of these terrorist acts accountable and bringing them to justice.

The GCC Ministerial Council condemned terrorist operations targeting innocent civilians and facilities such as schools, places of worship, and hospitals in the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan, emphasizing the GCC’s solidarity with the Republic of Afghanistan in combating all terrorist organizations and enhancing security and stability in its territories.