KUWAIT CITY (AFP) -- Kuwait is to sign a security agreement with NATO during an international conference it will host on December 12 that will discuss boosting security links with Persian Gulf Arab states.

The agreement will regulate the exchange of security information between the 26-member NATO and oil-rich Kuwait as part of the Istanbul Cooperation Initiative (ICI), said the deputy head of the National Security Agency, Sheikh Thamer Ali al-Sabah on Saturday.

NATO Secretary General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer, his assistants and member country representatives will lead 120 NATO delegates to the "International Conference of NATO and Persian Gulf Countries: Facing Common Challenges through ICI," Sheikh Thamer said.

A number of senior officials, including ministers, will represent the six-nation Persian Gulf Cooperation Council (PGCC) at the conference. PGCC Secretary General Abdurrahman al-Attiyah will address the opening ceremony.

NATO leaders at a summit in Istanbul in 2004 launched the ICI to offer practical security cooperation activities with states throughout the Broader Middle East with a special focus on the energy-rich PGCC states.

Through ICI, NATO offers practical cooperation with interested nations in such areas as counterterrorism, cooperation on border security, participation in NATO exercises and counter-WMD (weapons of mass destruction).

ICI stands alongside NATO's long-standing Partnership for Peace program and Mediterranean Dialogue.

Kuwait became the first country to join the ICI in 2005 and has been "closely cooperating with NATO" in security-related matters, Sheikh Thamer said. Qatar, Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates have also joined.