Leaders of the Gulf Cooperation Council have begun a summit in the United Arab Emirates faced with a world oil price crisis that has taken a heavy toll on their economies.

Correspondents say as well as the oil crisis, the summit is likely to focus on ties with their Gulf neighbours Iran and Iraq, and other political and security issues.

The United Nations Secretary-General, Kofi Annan, fresh from talks with the Libyan leader, Colonel Gadaffi, over the handing over of two suspects in the 1988 Lockerbie bombing, is a guest at the summit.

The South African president, Nelson Mandela, is also attending.