Yemen is to seek membership of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) once peace and security returns to the country.
Mohammed Maytami, Yemeni minister of planning, told journalists on Thursday that President Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi would submit an official request to join the GCC once the country is at peace.
He said the security and political challenges facing Yemen were affecting the region. GCC officials contacted by Arab News refused to comment on the report. However, one of them said that Yemen had been seeking membership for some time and was already a member of several GCC bodies.
Yemen’s desire to join the GCC goes back to the 1990s, and has seen some progress in the previous decade. In 2001, Yemen became a member of four GCC non-political committees, and was accepted as a member of several panels the following year.
The 2005 GCC summit in Abu Dhabi set out a process for full membership, and said Yemen’s integration should start by 2015. However, progress soon gave way to disappointment.
Agencies
