Joint Peninsula Shield to hold naval exercise

JEDDAH: The Joint Peninsula Shield, a military alliance with members from all Gulf countries, will be organising a naval exercise next week.
According to UAE news agency, WAM, the exercise named-'Islands of Loyalty'- will be held on April 29, 30.
The exercise is being organised to underscore "the harmony and coordination among ground, air and naval forces and their readiness and abilities to carry out special, limited and major missions along coasts and islands within the territorial waters in light of the current developments," the news agency stated.
The joint military drills by Gulf governments are on the rise in the wake of the tensed political developments between world forces and gulf nations on one side and Iran on another. Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's official visit to Abu Musa, one of three disputed islands claimed by both Iran and the UAE earlier this month has further escalated the tension.
The Peninsula Shield Force is the military side of the Cooperation Council for the Arab States of the Gulf also known as the Gulf Cooperation Council or GCC. In 1984, the GCC decided to create a joint military force of 10,000 soldiers divided into two brigades, called the Peninsula Shield Force, based in Saudi Arabia near the Kuwaiti and Iraqi borders.