MOSCOW, June 5. /TASS/. The Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) and the Arab League don’t cooperate as of yet, but the six-nation organization has prospects for cooperation with the Arab states looking to join it as observers, the director of the Russian Foreign Ministry’s department for Asian and Pacific cooperation said on Friday.

At the moment, "the SCO cooperates with Arab countries in a bilateral format," Bakhtier Khakimov said, noting that Syria and Egypt had applied for observer status in the organization.

The Shanghai Cooperation Organization brings together Russia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, China, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan. Afghanistan, India, Iran, Mongolia and Pakistan have observer status, while Belarus, Turkey and Sri Lanka are "dialogue partners".