At the request of the Saudi Armed Forces, the GCC Chiefs-of- Staff met in Riyadh on Thursday for the fourth extraordinary meeting of the Gulf Cooperation Countries (GCC) Supreme Military Committee, to exchange views on the current regional threats and the means to achieve greater GCC military coordination.

The GCC Chiefs-of-Staff called for unifying efforts to face security challenges and strongly condemned the recent attacks on Saudi oil installations, the Saudi daily Asharq Al-Awsat reported.

In a final statement, the senior military officers expressed the readiness of the armed forces of all GCC countries to confront and deal with any threats or terrorist attacks.

They also stressed that any attack against any of the GCC states would be considered an attack on the entire Gulf and underlined the importance to commit to promoting collective security within the GCC.

The meeting also condemned the attacks on Saudi Arabia’s oil installations, the targeting of oil tankers and the threats against free navigation.

Lt. General Hamad Mohammed Thani Al Rumaithi, Chief-of-Staff of the UAE Armed Forces, headed the UAE delegation, while the Chief-of-Staff of Bahrain Defense Force (BDF) Lieutenant General Dhiab bin Saqr Al Nuaimi headed the Kingdom’s delegation to the fourth extraordinary meeting of GCC Supreme Military Committee of Chiefs-of-Staff, Emirates News Agency WAM and Bahrain News Agency (BNA) reported.

 Meanwhile, Bahrain’s Interior Minister General Sheikh Rashid bin Abdullah Al Khalifa warned of the dangers that surround the region, which include electronic threats, drones and ballistic missiles, citing the terrorist attack against two Saudi Aramco oil facilities.

Addressing a ceremony held by the Bahraini-British Friendship Association in London, the Interior Minister called on the Bahrainis to remain vigilant against plans of divisions on sectarian and religious bases.

He noted that his country was implementing a national plan to “promote the sense of national belonging,” which covers many areas, including education, media, youth, sports and culture.

 In another development, Lebanese Minister of Defense Elias Bou Saab met in Beirut Friday with Saudi Ambassador to Lebanon Waleed bin Abdullah Bukhari, the Saudi Press Agency (SPA) said.

 During the meeting, they discussed current cooperation relations between the two countries, as well as the latest regional and international developments.