Gulf leaders keep dollar peg, to launch common market
DOHA (AFP) — Gulf Arab leaders Tuesday wrapped up a two-day summit that agreed to maintain their currencies' peg to the US dollar and to launch a pan-Gulf common market in January.
The six monarchies also agreed to maintain a 2010 target date for the launch of a single currency.
The highlight of the two-day gathering of oil-rich Gulf states was the presence of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, the first Iranain president to attend a Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) summit.
Ahmadinejad offered his Arab peers a regional security pact and a 12-point cooperation plan, including on free trade and joint investments in oil and gas.
In a speech on Monday, he steered clear of any reference to Tehran's nuclear programme, which worries the leaders of GCC states -- Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.
The Qatari presidency of the summit welcomed Ahmedinejad's proposals in a brief statement Tuesday.
"They will be examined by the GCC in a way to reinforce the relations of good neighbourhood and mutual respect ... and to contribute to strengthening security and stability in the region," it said.
However, Ahmadinejad's address received a cool reception from GCC delegations, who mostly described it as "utopian" and "unrealistic", while noting they had received no fresh assurances on the nuclear issue.
"Moreover, he referred during his speech to the Arabian Gulf as the Persian Gulf," remarked one delegate, while others complained of a "lack of courtesy from the Iranian president who was invited by the leaders of Arab states."
Ahmadinejad's presence at the summit appeared to be in response to an invitation from Qatar, the host of the summit, and not a unanimous decision by all GCC leaders.
"We heard about it from the press," said Kuwait's Foreign Minister Sheikh Mohammad al-Sabah al-Salem al-Sabah.
GCC states, while staunch US allies, are increasingly worried that the standoff between the West and Iran over Tehran's programme to enrich uranium could escalate into military conflict.
The final declaration of the summit reiterated the GCC position of demanding a "peaceful solution" to Iran's nuclear crisis, while it exhorted Tehran to "pursue dialogue with the international community".
The GCC has already announced plans to launch its own nuclear programme, for civilian purposes only.
A proposal by the group for an internationally controlled consortium to provide Middle East countries with enriched uranium was received without enthusiasm by Iran.
GCC secretary general Abdulrahman al-Attiyah said the leaders at the summit decided to stick to a 2010 date to launch their single currency.
"The leaders have decided to continue to work towards achieving the monetary union... and confirmed keeping the date of 2010," the secretary general told reporters.
The decision was effectively made ahead of the summit, when GCC foreign and finance ministers decided to stick to the date despite worries of high inflation.
A delegate said the decision was taken at the insistence of Saudi Arabia, although some member states, notably the UAE, had openly said the 2010 launch was not possible because of technical, legislative and fiscal hurdles.
Leaders also decided to keep pegging their currencies to the sliding dollar, and not follow Kuwait's move to peg its dinar to a basket of currencies.
"Right now, the policy is to stick to the dollar ... The GCC is concerned about the (weakening) dollar. No decision on the currency for the moment," the Qatari Prime Minister Sheikh hamad bin Jassem al-Thani told reporters.
The final decleration said GCC leaders were waiting for "positive steps" to follow a recent Middle East peace conference in the United States aimed at jumpstarting Israeli-Palestinian negotiations.
The next annual summit will be held in the Omani capital, Muscat.
