Terrorism and the war against it require functioning collective action which, in itself, requires a flow of information that can help decision makers understand the challenges posed by collective adversaries and the manner in which allies develop their counter-terrorism capabilities. 

The Euro-Gulf Information Centre (EGIC) is proud to announce a weekly bulletin service that presents country briefings on terrorism-related news each week. In this way, we hope to make a contribution to enhancing EU-Gulf relations in the war against terrorism and extremist ideologies.

By: Wouter Jansen 

All GCC member states condemned the attack on an oil pipeline in Bahrain last Friday (10/11).

Kingdom of Bahrain

11 November 2017 – Bahrain has accused Iran of a ‘terrorist’ act by sabotaging the country’s main oil pipeline, which caught fire after an explosion.

State of Kuwait

 8 November 2017 – Kuwaiti expert Dr Saleh al-Saeed, said at the 20th meeting for heads of Arab Interior Ministries’ counterterrorism authorities, that Arab citizens need to more effectively use the internet to become ‘digital citizens.’ This way, they would be better prepared to resist extreme ideologies and recruitment attempts online. 

State of Qatar

8 November 2017 – Last Wednesday (8/11), the US and Qatar held their first counter-terrorism dialogue in Washington DC. The Chairman of Qatar’s National Counter Terrorism Committee, Major General Abdul Al Ansari, led the Qatari delegation while Ambassador Nathan A. Sales led the US delegation. This comes as Doha seeks to repair damage caused by its policies that financed terror groups in the region.  

Kingdom of Saudi Arabia

9 November 2017 – Saudi Arabia’s Foreign Affairs Minister, Adel al-Jubeir, asked the international community to impose new sanctions on Iran for its support of terrorism. He called Iran the number one state sponsor of terrorism and highlighted the violations of the nuclear agreement and the ballistic missile resolution of the United Nations. Saudi Arabia also called for actions against Iran due to its support for the Houthi rebels in Yemen, which, according to Saudi Arabia, are still receiving weapons and ballistic missiles from Iran. 

The United Arab Emirates

9 November 2017 – Two years after the terrorist attack in Paris that killed 130 people, President Macron announced that France, together with the United Arab Emirates, will organise a conference on the financing of terrorism next year.