Co-operation among Gulf states

This file contains correspondence concerning:

• Proposed HMG assistance for any joint Gulf defence pact; and consideration of internal security cooperation
• The Foreign Secretary Lord Carrington's [Peter Alexander Rupert Carington] appreciation of Saudi Arabia's determination to make a success of the Islamic Conference and the Saudi insistence that the Camp David agreement is an obstacle to cooperation with the US and that the Palestine problem requires new thinking
• Discussions of joint exercises involving the Sultan's Armed Forces and the Union Defence Force
• The Iraqi attitude towards Gulf cooperation
• Talks between I T M Lucas and the Sultan of Oman Qaboos Bin Saeed, regarding Operation Common-sense, US defence activity, Palestine and civil, education and information cooperation in the Gulf
• HMG's ideas to improve Gulf cooperation
• The concerns of the Foreign and Commonwealth Office that funding cuts will make it difficult for the British Council to undertake new projects, which is important for improving relations in the cultural field
• The views of Kuwaiti Foreign Minister Sheikh Sabah Al Ahmad Al Sabah on Gulf cooperation and the situation in Iran
• The Gulf and Arabian Peninsula Conference of Agricultural Ministers
• An interview in Al Qabas with Bahrain's Foreign Minister Sheikh Mohammad Bin Mubarak Al Khalifa
• The annual general meetings of five joint Arab development organisations held in Doha in April 1980 Arab Fund for Economic and Social Development; Arab Authority for Agricultural Investment and Development; Arab Bank for Economic Development in Africa; Inter-Arab Investment Guarantee Corporation; and Gulf Investment Bank
• The fifth conference of the Arab Gulf Information Ministers in February 1980
• The cancellation of the Saudi Arabian Basic Industries Company plans to build an aluminium smelter at Jubail because of existing and planned smelting capacity in Bahrain and Dubai
• Plans for Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, and Bahrain to build a petrochemical plant; and plans for other joint projects
• Plans to establish a direct communications link between the security services in Bahrain and Oman.