LONDON — Chief of the General Staff Lt. Gen. Fayyad Al-Ruwaili headed the delegation of Saudi Arabia to the 5th annual meeting of the Dragon Group, which was held in London with the participation of 10 countries, in addition to the GCC General Secretariat.

On the sidelines of the Dragon Group meeting, Lt. Gen. Al-Ruwaili held on Wednesday bilateral talks with the British Chief of Defense Staff, Admiral Sir Tony Radakin, at the headquarters of the British Ministry of Defense. They reviewed the strategic relations linking the two friendly countries and discussed current and future opportunities to enhance the fields of military cooperation and face common challenges between the two countries.

Earlier, Al-Ruwaili attended the Dragon Group meeting at the Royal Military Academy in Sandhurst, where they discussed the security challenges and the overall threats surrounding the region, and ways to confront them and reduce their risks by joint efforts, most notably the ongoing smuggling of weapons and the dissemination of technologies to terrorist militias operating outside the framework of countries of the region.

The Saudi Chief of the General Staff also held bilateral meetings with the Chiefs of Staff of some countries that attended the Dragon meeting. During the meetings, he stressed the consensus of all on the need to strengthen intelligence and security cooperation among Dragon Group's member states to confront aggressive behaviors that target the security and stability of the region, and combat smuggling operations.

He pointed out the importance of these meetings since they contribute to exchanging views, unifying efforts and increasing levels of coordination and coherence among the participating countries to support the security and stability of the region. — SG