ANTI-DRUG ABUSE BODIES TO STRENGTHEN COORDINATION

DOHA: The Directors of Anti-Drug Abuse Departments at the Gulf
Cooperation Council (GCC) are meeting here to strengthen the level of
coordination among member states for tackling the menace.

"The drug trafficking is major security issue for the law enforcing
agencies as the region has become a target of traffickers. We need to
coordinate efforts for fighting the risk," said Brigadier Mohamed
Mubarak Al Khulaifi, Director of Drugs Prevention Department in the
Ministry of Interior (MOI) and head of Qatari delegation to the
meeting. Al Khulaifi was speaking at the opening ceremony of the
three-day meeting at the Ritz- Carlton Doha yesterday.

Colonel Hamad Sulaiman Al Hatemi, Chairman of the 23rd meeting and
head of the Omani delegation delivered a keynote speech in which he
welcomed the delegates of the six GCC states.

He said "Certainly, all drugs enforcement agencies in the GCC
countries are exposed to the risk of drug as well as the entire
humanity. Drug destroys human resources, causes huge loss of
resources and besides its ability of collapsing the social fabric and values"

As part of the war against drug, member countries use preventive
measures, awareness campaigns and rehabilitation activities in a bid
to reduce consumption. The Departments also jointly coordinate with
international partners to foil drug trafficking attempts, said Al Hatemi.

Brigadier Mohamed pointed out that the meeting agenda contains
important subjects requiring indepth consultation and discussions
among the delegations to end up with strong recommendations. The
recommendations will further strengthen the steps been taken by the
GCC countries for enhancing the the joint war against drugs. Head of
Saudi Arabia's delegation Brigadier Othman bin Nasser Al Muhrij,
director-general of Drugs Prevention Department, lauded the existing
level of coordination among Gulf countries in combating drug
trafficking. Those efforts had resulted in the seizure of over 60
million Captagon tablets, about 17 tonnes of hashish, over 939 tonnes
of Qatt, and over 70kg of heroin in Saudi Arabia in 2008 and the
first quarter of 2009.

The Directorate General of Drug Control has appointed 18 liaison
officers in a number of States with a view to overcoming the
obstacles to the achievement of fruitful cooperation in this field
and promotes cooperation and the rapid exchange of information.

Colonel Ali Ahmad Buhindy, Representative the GCC General Secretariat
and head of delegates of other member countries delivered speeches at
opening session. After the inauguration session, the delegates
toured the pavilions of an exhibition being organised on the sideline
of the 23rd meeting.