Inauguration of Gulf Forum 2009 "Gulf-U.S. Relations after

For his part, Abdulrahman bin Hamad Al-Atiyyah, Secretary of the GCC,
confirmed that the historic and strategic relations between the GCC
countries and the United States were deep-rooted in the political and
economic development history of the region and has firm bases and
principles not affected with changes at the White House.

Addressing the gathering on his behalf, the GCC Assistant Secretary
General for Political Affairs Dr. Abdulkareem Al-Hammadi, drew the
attention to the volatile crises which orchestrated the region's
theatre since the establishment of the GCC in March 1981, citing the
eight-year Iran-Iraq war, Iraq invasion of Kuwait and U.S. invasion
of Iraq.
Al-Atiyyah expressed the hope of the GCC countries that the new
U.S. administration puts on its foreign policy priorities putting off
the region's tensions and fires, led by the Palestinian cause and
particularly hoping for the finding of a solution for the Arab
Israeli conflict on the bases of the international legitimacy
resolutions and Arab Peace Initiative.
On the Iraqi affairs, Al-Atiyyah expressed hope that the U.S. should
not accelerate the withdrawal of its troops from Iraq; rather it
makes it gradually to avoid making a security and political gap that
would provide a chance for regional forces to increase their
interference and influence in the Iraqi affairs and affect the
independence of political and security decision-making for Iraq and
threatens its Arab and Islamic identity.