The Assistant Secretary General for Political Affairs and Negotiations, Dr. Abdulaziz Hamad Al-Owaishek met on Monday, 1 September 2019, at the GCC headquarters in Riyadh, Mr. Joseph Francescon, responsible for countering terrorism at the White House National Security Council, Mr. Joseph Rosenstein, State Department Counterterrorism Policy Advisor and their accompanying delegation.

During the meeting, they reviewed the strategic partnership between the GCC and the United States, especially the ongoing cooperation in countering extremism and terrorism in the framework of regional and international efforts.

They also discussed the Middle East Strategic Alliance (MESA) strategy to counterterrorism, which was approved in July 2019, and the efforts to implement it.  As well as, the GCC arrangements to host the 2nd workshop for the Network of Centers and Authorities Countering Violent Extremism, planned to be held on 30-31 October 2019, with the participation of a number of the GCC, US, UK and EU centers and authorities countering violent extremism.