Global Security Newswire

Six Arab governments are cooperating to create an entity that would track regional atomic emissions in order to limit the risk of a nuclear power disaster, the Saudi Gazette reported on Sunday.

The six member countries of the Gulf Cooperation Council -- Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates -- are behind the effort.

"The GCC countries give priority to strengthening and enhancing their joint capabilities, such as the Peninsula Shield Force, the establishment of a regional maritime center, and the establishment of an air missile defense which ensures joint responses to all biological and radiological threats," GCC Secretary General Abdul Latif al-Zayani said on Saturday at a regional forum in Riyadh on addressing nuclear and radiological dangers.

Al-Zayani emphasized that all nations are entitled to nonmilitary atomic energy capabilities so long as they meet the strictures set by the International Atomic Energy Agency.

Specialists from GCC nations, Jordan, Lebanon, the United States and Yemen are participating in the regional forum, which is partially organized by U.S. Central Command and ends on Wednesday.