Oman opposes establishing union of Gulf states

Oman's Foreign Minister Yusuf bin Alawi bin Abdullah said Saturday that his country opposes plans to form a union of the six Gulf states instead of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC).



Muscat opposes the union and if the other five GCC states decide to form it, "we will not be part of it," the minister told reporters during the ninth Manama Dialogue in Bahrain on regional security.



"It is not feasible to us," he added.



The GCC includes six oil-rich member states, namely Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Kuwait, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Bahrain and Oman.



Saudi King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz Al Saud proposed the initiative of upgrading the GCC to a union first in 2011 and Bahrain, Qatar and the UAE welcomed the proposal then.



This is the first official announcement of Oman's stance regarding the initiative.

