(MENAFN- Kuwait News Agency (KUNA)) WARSAW, July 9 (KUNA) -- NATO is interested in expanding its cooperation not only with individual Arab Gulf states but also with the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) as a whole, a senior NATO official said here Saturday at the sidelines of the NATO summit.
NATO seeks the "widest possible cooperation" with the GCC states in the fight against terrorism and to establish security and stability in the region, said the official speaking on condition of anonymity.
He noted that NATO will be opening a NATO-Istanbul Cooperation Initiative (ICI) center in Kuwait soon to foster cooperation with the Gulf states.
"Kuwait has a very active leadership role in helping us to understand the situation in the region," added the official. The ICI includes Bahrain, Kuwait, Qatar and UAE.
Meanwhile, King Abdullah II of Jordan who was invited to the Warsaw NATO summit is unable to attend, according to NATO sources.
Jordanian foreign minister Nasser Judeh is in Warsaw to attend a meeting with NATO foreign ministers, said the sources.
NATO leaders are to discuss later today how to project stability in the Middle East and North Africa and decide to step up NATO''s contribution to the international coalition in the fight against IS. (end) nk.gta