Six oil nations plan Gulf area common market

Saudi Arabia and five other Gulf oil states are meeting in Muscat to develop a plan to bind their countries more closely and safeguard stability in the area. The six Arab nations, which together produce a quarter of the noncommunist world's oil, aim to set up a community similar to the European Common Market.

During a two-day meeting here, foreign ministers from Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Oman, and Bahrain are due to initial the constitution of a cooperation council and arrange the first summit under t he new system.