Gulf Arab oil producers launched on Thursday a $20 billion aid package for Bahrain and Oman, both of which are facing anti-government protests inspired by uprisings across the Arab world. The job-generating measure, which will give $10 billion to each country to upgrade their housing and infrastructure over 10 years, was above the $10 billion to $15 billion indicated by officials during discussions earlier this week.
Foreign ministers from the six-nation Gulf Co-operation Council, which comprises Bahrain, Oman, Kuwait, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, announced the measures after a three-hour meeting in the Saudi capital. "We believe this is an ambitious programme and it also shows strong support from the GCC," UAE Foreign Minister Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed al-Nahayan told reporters.
The countries are forming a committee to decide on the necessary mechanisms for the programme, the foreign ministers said in a statement, and will meet next in two weeks. The Arab world has been shaken by a series of popular protests this year, that started in Tunisia and have recently spread to the oil-rich Gulf region. Bahrain, a small desert island kingdom, has been particularly hard hit as long simmering tensions within its majority Shia population burst into the open. "Dear Bahraini ... messages of unity, brotherhood and social harmony are our most powerful weapons to fight sectarian strife," Bahrain's Sheikh Khaled bin Ahmed al-Khalifa said on Twitter as he announced the aid package.
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