TOO MANY OPTIONS

Last month's GCC summit meeting in Oman seemed, in the view of some observers, to have been more than vague when it came to dealing with matters of regional defence. Such subjects are, sensibly enough, always given a high degree of confidentiality, but the Council had very little to say about the progress being made in the defence field. The summit said all the correct, and customary, things about eventual aims, overall intentions and common identity of views. The conceptual basis of the GCC regional defence policy - self-reliance and no intervention by outside powers - was firmly endorsed.