The US is working on a unified strategy with the GCC countries to counter the spread of extremism and combat terrorist financing, said a top official.

They have joined forces to "prevent the world's most dangerous weapons from getting to some of the world's most dangerous regimes and actors", US Deputy Secretary of State William Burns was quoted as saying in the Gulf Daily News, our sister publication.

He confirmed it covers securing national borders, protecting critical energy infrastructure from conventional and cyber attacks and stopping the spread of extremism and terrorist financing.

Burns highlighted the strategy during a speech on the US-Gulf Partnership Agenda at the Centre for Strategic and International Studies in Washington.

He said the US was keeping pace with rapidly evolving threats by monitoring the skies over conflict zones in the Middle East and improving information sharing and security co-ordination in the Strait of Hormuz.

Burns also praised the initiative by HRH Prince Salman bin Hamad Al Khalifa, Crown Prince, Deputy Supreme Commander and First Deputy Premier, to revive Bahrain's National Dialogue.

"Just as Yemen's transition must remain Yemeni-owned and driven, so too must Bahrain's," he said. "But we all have a role and a stake in Bahrain's success." – TradeArabia News Service