Prince Faisal bin Farhan bin Abdullah, Saudi Minister of Foreign Affairs, and Dr. Abdullatif bin Rashid Al-Zayani, GCC Secretary General, signed in Riyadh Sunday the GCC Unified Military Command Headquarters Agreement.

The agreement was signed in the presence of the Commander of the GCC Unified Military Command, General Eid bin Awad Al-Shalawi, and the Secretary General for Military Affairs, General Ahmed Ali Hamid Al-Ali, the Saudi Press Agency (SPA) reported.

This agreement came as a result of the decision issued by the 34th Session of the Supreme Council of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) Arab States held in the State of Kuwait in 2013, which included the establishment of the unified military command of the GCC states, as well as the decisions approved by the GCC Defense Ministers in the 12th Session held in the Kingdom of Bahrain in 2013, which included an establishment of the headquarters of the unified military command.

This agreement seeks to reach cooperation and coordination in the fields of security and defense, to maintain stability in the GCC states, and to achieve self-defense based on the principle of collective security.

Prince Faisal welcomed the step of signing an agreement of the GCC unified military command, which reflects the Kingdom's support of the GCC joint action and facilitates the task of the unified military command where the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud was keen to complete its requirements within framework of his vision to move the GCC joint action from a phase of cooperation to integration.

For his part, Dr. Al-Zayani thanked the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud for the care given by the Government of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia to the GCC General Secretariat.

The GCC Secretary General hailed the launch of the work of the unified military command from Riyadh and the care it received from the GCC leaders, along with the Joint Defense Council, considering it as an important military system in consolidating defense cooperation and integration among the member states, wishing heir leadership and employees steady progress and success.