Frank Gardner: Concern over Iraq

Oil prices, defence and relations with Iran and Iraq will all be high on the agenda at this year's Gulf Co-operation Council (GCC) summit being held in Abu Dhabi.

Amid tight security, Gulf Arab rulers and their ministers are converging on the summit from Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Bahrain, Qatar, Oman and the host nation, the United Arab Emirates.

It promises to be one of the most high-profile summits in the organisation's 17-year history. For the first time a UN secretary-general will be at the opening session on Monday, while South African President Nelson Mandela will be the first non-Arab head of state to attend.

But beyond the speeches and the inevitable joint communiques, the Gulf states are facing serious challenges, few of which can be solved in just three days of talks.

Unemployment hits

Sagging oil prices have cut deeply into government revenues which are still heavily dependent on the commodity. Unemployment is also a growing problem in a part of the world grown accustomed to millions of imported labourers filling most of the lower-paid jobs.

On the issue of Iraq, the Gulf States are all agreed on the need for Baghdad to comply with UN resolutions, but opinions differ up and down the Gulf as to how and when Iraq should be invited back into the Arab fold.