RIYADH, Saudi Arabia (Reuters):

Gulf Arab countries want to acquire nuclear energy capability and have ordered a study on a possible joint atomic programme, a statement issued at the close of a two-day Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) summit said yesterday.

"The countries of the region have the right to nuclear energy technology for peaceful purposes," GCC chief Abdul-Rahman al-Attiya told a closing session of the meeting in Riyadh.

Statement

The statement from the six-nation bloc comes amid concerns over Iran's nuclear ambitions, as well as long-standing Arab suspicion over Israel's presumed nuclear weapons.

The GCC - which groups Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Bahrain, Oman, Kuwait and the United Arab Emirates - also said it would push ahead with plans for a European Union-style economic union in the world's top oil exporting region.

Setback

But in a setback, officials said that Oman had decided it would not manage to meet the economic conditions for a 2010 deadline for the single currency, raising questions about whether other countries might also delay entry.

Known for conservative political and economic policies, the Gulf Arab countries maintain close alliances with the United States and share U.S. concern over growing Iranian power.

Saudi Arabia, the world's largest oil exporter and home to Islam's holiest sites, wants to check what it views as the creeping influence of the Shi'ite Muslim nation in the Arab region through support for the Lebanese group Hezbollah, Shi'ite parties in Iraq and Tehran's alliance with Syria.