Arab Gulf States Clash on Trade With U.S.

[Rose Siding]

MANAMA, Bahrain -- Saudi Arabia called Monday for Arab Gulf states to speak with one voice, implied criticism against countries making trade agreements with the United States, but Bahrain said it had no intention of abstaining from such deals.

A dispute over such agreements was expected to dominate a summit meeting of six Gulf Arab nations that began Monday.

A Gulf official at the summit said the other five states -- Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, and the United Arab Emirates -- would make their own arrangements with Washington whether the Saudis like it or not. The official spoke on customary condition of anonymity.
...
Mohammed Almezel, a political columnist in Bahrain, told The Associated Press that the smaller Gulf states see the trade deals as a tool to stimulate their economies, "attract foreign investment and create jobs."

"The Saudis are wary of the rapidly changing politics around them," Almezel said, referring to the moves toward democracy in neighboring Bahrain, Iraq and Qatar. "They would prefer to see things slow down a bit."

http://www.newsday.com/news/nationworld/wire/sns-ap-bahrain-gulf-summit,0,297161.story?coll=sns-ap-nationworld-headlines

[Nikepallas]

1. UH OH!!!! I think we are going to have a MAJOR problem

BUSHCO is going to be pissed and you know what happens when they get pissed.

[Deja Q]

2. FOUR MORE YEARS!

The way things are going, especially with India bitching about the US (despite still taking our jobs, but what the fuck... they're as moral as everyone else. Which means they're not.), we'll be lucky to have 4 more months.

The world appears to be falling apart.

Live now while you can folks.

[Dover]

3. What does it mean when they say the GCC is working toward a monetary union

"The two-day summit is also expected to discuss terrorism, upcoming elections in Iraq and the Palestinian territories, and various economic matters such as the GCC's progress toward a monetary union and expatriate workers. "

[Rose Siding]

4. This article speaks of it in dollar terms

-but I bet it ends up as something else, especially if we continue to deal out the Saudis.

http://www.middle-east-online.com/english/oman/?id=9554

KUWAIT CITY - Gulf Arab states agreed on several key criteria Wednesday to bring their economic and fiscal policies closer together for their anticipated monetary union, Kuwait's central bank governor said.

They also reviewed the "legal and institutional" studies which would be needed to establish a central bank for the six-nation Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), Sheikh Salem Abdulaziz al-Sabah told reporters after chairing a meeting of GCC central bank governors.

"We have approved the most key standard criteria for economic and fiscal integration ... like budget deficit, ratio of public debt to gross domestic product (GDP), inflation and interest rates and others," said Sheikh Salem.

The parametres of the criteria will be set at their next meeting, although no date has been set, he said.

The GCC, which groups the six oil monarchies of Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, launched on January 1, 2003, a customs union with a view to becoming a common market in 2007 and establishing a monetary union in 2005.

[Dover]

5. Thanks. So they are forming their own trading block and currency?

I recall reading that Iran was planning to create their own stock exchange.

[jwirr]

6. Am I correct? Is Saudi Arabia

about to screw bushie? Or is it bushie who is screwing them?? It seems to me that we are on the opposite sides in this one. Have bushie and the Prince had a falling out?