Gulf decries rhetoric against Muslims

Gulf Arab leaders condemned “hostile, racist” remarks agai-nst Muslims and Syrian refugees on Thursday, days after Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump called for a ban Muslims entering the United States.

“The supreme council expressed its deep concern at the increase of hostile, racist and inhumane rhetoric against refugees in general and Muslims in particular,” the Gulf Cooperation Council said, referring to a GCC heads of state meeting in Riyadh. It called for “providing the necessary protection for the displaced and refugees who are fleeing the twin fires of unjust rule and terrorist groups.”

Republican frontrunner Mr Trump called on Monday for the ban on Muslims.

The UN refugee agency said such rhetoric was harming its resettlement programme. The International Organis-ation for Migration responded to Mr Trump’s comments by saying any discrimination based on religion went against all international accords on dealing with refugees.

Gulf Arab states also called on Thursday for an international reconstruction conference for Yemen after any deal to end its civil war, which has killed 6,000 people and caused widespread damage to the country’s economy and infrastructure.

The GCC said such a programme would be done in accordance with a “practical programme to rehabilitate the Yemeni economy and to ease its merger into the Gulf economies”.

The call came in a statement by GCC leaders at the conclusion of a summit meeting in the Saudi capital. It was read out by GCC secretary-general Abdullatif bin Rashid Al Zayani.

Yemeni warring parties are due to gather in Switzerland next week for UN-sponsored peace talks.

“The council (GCC) members called for an international conference for Yemen reconstruction after the parties reach the aspired political solution,” the statement said.

Yemen has been ravaged by nearly nine months of civil war.

An alliance of Arab states led by Saudi Arabia intervened in March to stop the expansion of Iran-allied Houthi forces and to restore President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi to power.

A seven-day ceasefire is expected to take effect when the peace talks commence on December 15.