Special to WorldTribune.com

ABU DHABI — The Gulf Cooperation Council has adopted proposals to
expand its regional force.

Officials said the six GCC members agreed to significantly expand the
Peninsula Shield Force. They said the military would be enlarged and
assigned a range of operational tasks.

“This is the first real effort to make Peninsula Shield into a real
force,” an official said.

Officials said GCC military commanders have been drafting plans to
develop Peninsula Shield, now reported at 30,000 soldiers. They said the commanders held a series of intensive consultations earlier this month to draft development plans over the next year. Since 2000, the air command centers of the six militaries were said to have been linked under the Belt of Cooperation program, led by the U.S. firm Raytheon and Sweden’s Ericsson.

A key meeting of GCC commanders on Peninsula Shield was scheduled for May 20 in the Bahraini capital of Manama. Officials said the agenda for the meeting included proposals for exercises as well as integration of key
capabilities, including military intelligence, satellites, medical
evacuation, search and rescue and weapons development.

Officials said the GCC has agreed to hold annual exercises for Peninsula
Shield. They said major army exercises would take place every two years,
hosted by a different GCC country.

“The priority must focus at this stage to ensure security in the
broadest sense, and increase coordination in military and defense by
adopting a unified force,” Bahraini Prime Minister Khalifa Bin Salman said.

  000 troops, Belt of Cooperation program, Ericsson, Gulf Cooperation Council, Gulf states agree to expand regional force of 30, Khalifa Bin Salman, Raytheon