Local media practitioners attend a press conference held by information ministers of the Gulf Cooperation Council in Ryadh on Thursday. (SPA)

The Gulf Cooperation Council’s (GCC) information ministers held their third extraordinary meeting here on Thursday to discuss a joint media strategy about the bloc’s objectives in the region, particularly in Yemen.

The meeting was held at the King Salman Airbase Airport under the chairmanship of Adel Al-Toraifi, Saudi Arabia’s minister of culture and information, in the presence of GCC Secretary General Abdullatif Al-Zayani.

Chairing the meeting, Al-Toraifi said Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Salman was keen to see the ministers develop strategies that would serve the people of the region.

He said the meeting was being held to discuss a joint media plan that would highlight the way in which relief efforts in Yemen were being hampered by Houthi militias and forces loyal to ousted President Ali Abdullah Saleh.

He said that these groups were disrupting peace efforts by launching ballistic missiles. “These criminal attacks are attacks against all the GCC countries,” he said.

He said that GCC states face many challenges including negative media campaigns, which require a firm response.

“Our responsibility, as ministers of information, in these difficult and critical periods, is to grow and advance our media. We have to address these media campaigns against the GCC states.”

Earlier, Al-Zayani said the meeting would boost media cooperation between the GCC countries. Among those who attended were Bahrain’s Isa bin Abdul Rahman Al-Hammadi, Oman’s Abdul-Moneim bin Mansour Al-Hassani, UAE’s Sultan bin Ahmed Al-Jaber, Qatar’s Sheikh Hamad bin Thamer Al-Thani, and Kuwait’s Sheikh Salman Al-Hamoud Al-Sabah.