The Gulf Cooperation Council on Tuesday welcomed bids by the kingdoms of Jordan and Morocco to join the six-nation grouping of Gulf Arab monarchies

The Gulf Cooperation Council on Tuesday welcomed bids by the kingdoms of Jordan and Morocco to join the six-nation grouping of Gulf Arab monarchies, its secretary general Abdullatif al-Zayani said.

"Leaders of the GCC welcomed the request of the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan to join the council and instructed the foreign ministers to enter into negotiations to complete the procedures," Zayani told reporters. He said the same procedure would be followed with Morocco.

His remarks came after a summit in Riyadh of the GCC, which groups Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and United Arab Emirates. The impoverished Arabian Peninsula republic of Yemen has limited observer status in the grouping.