GCC Rejects Membership To Iraq

ABU DHABI [MENL] -- The Gulf Cooperation Council has rejected a U.S.
proposal to accept Iraq as a member.
Gulf Arab officials said Iraq was not suitable for membership in the
six-member GCC. They said the GCC, established in 1981, was still in the
process of formation and could not expand.
"When the GCC was established we did not restrict its membership to any
countries," Bahraini Foreign Minister Khalid Bin Ahmed Al Khalifa said. "It
is not an exclusive club. Once the GCC is a complete unit we will allow any
of our brothers to come and join."