December 9, 2005

THE CUSTODIAN OF THE TWO HOLY MOSQUES BRIEFS THE CABINET ON TALKS AND CONTACTS WITH WORLD LEADERS. UPON A REQUEST FROM CROWN PRINCE SULTAN IBN ABDUL AZIZ THE CABINET AGREES TO RE-FORM THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS OF THE SAUDI ARABIAN AIRLINES. THE COUNCIL OF MINISTERS HAILS THE ABILITIES OF THE SECURITY FORCES IN CONFRONTING TERRORISTS NETWORKS. The Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah Ibn Abdul Aziz chaired the cabinet's weekly session held at Al Salam palace in Jeddah. At the outset of the session, the King welcomed Islamic leaders to the Islamic summit. The Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques hoped that the summit would unite and restore confidence to the Islamic Ummah (nation) and would receive positive response from leaders and peoples of the Islamic countries. In a statement to the Saudi Press Agency following the session, the Minister of Culture and Information Iyad Ibn Amin Madani said that the Cabinet was briefed on the preparations for hosting the Islamic leaders and the accompanying delegations. The minister said the king briefed the cabinet on talks and contacts made during the past days with world leaders including the South Korean Premier and the Iraqi Premier. The Custodian of the Two Holy Msoques asserted that Saudi Arabia always hoped that security, stability, unity, territorial integrity and sovereignty will prevail in Iraq. The Minister of Culture and Information said the Cabinet hailed the security forces' confrontation of the networks of terrorism and violence as the case is demonstrated in the ability of these forces to uncover these networks and their members and to arrest them without loss of lives and before they have managed to terrorize the innocent and reach their goals which no religion, mind, or human being condones. The Minister of Culture and Information said the Cabinet then reviewed the domestic items on its agenda and issued the following decisions: The Board of Directors of the Saudi Arabian Airlines (SAUDIA) was re-formed as follows: 1- Minister of Defense and Aviation or his deputy as Chairman 2- Assistant Minister of Defense and Aviation for Civil Aviation Affairs, member 3- Director General of SAUDIA, member 4- Chief of Civil Aviation, member 5- Representative of a governmental relevant body, chosen by the Chairman of the Board of Directors, as member for a three-year term, renewable for one time 6- Five representatives of the private sector as members terms, renewable for one time; They are: 1- Abdul Rahman Ibn Ali Al-Jereisy 2- Dr. Abdul Rahman Ibn Abdullah Al Mishaigeh 3- Eng. Osamah Ibn Mohammed Makki Kurdi 4- Yousef Ibn Abdul Sattar Al Maimani 5- Abdullah Ibn Saeed Abu-Milha. The National Commission assigned to the Implementation of the Agreement on barring the creation, producing, storing, using and/or destroying chemical weapons was re-formed under the chairmanship of Prince Dr. Turki Ibn Mohammed Ibn Saud Al Kabeer, Assistant Undersecretary of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs for Political Affairs and Chairman of the Ministry's International Organizations Department. The following government bodies were represented as members of the commission: the National Guard, Ministry of Defense and Aviation, Ministry of Interior, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, General Intelligence, the ministries of Higher Education; Commerce and Industry; Petroleum and Mineral Resources; Finance; Agriculture; Health; and the General Corporation for Meteorology and Protection of Environment; King Abdul Aziz City for Science and Technology. The Cabinet authorized the President of Youth Welfare or his deputy to discuss and sign a proposed memorandum of understanding between Germany's football federation and Olympic committee on one hand and Saudi Arabia's counterparts on the other. The Cabinet approved the appointment of Majed Ibn Saad Ibn Najem Al Thiabi Al-Otaibi as member of the Court of First Instance for settling labor disputes in Makkah Region. The Minister of Finance or his deputy was authorized to sign a draft agreement between the Government of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and the Government of the Republic of Pakistan to avert dual taxation and prevent income tax evasion and forward the final version for further authentication. The Cabinet approved the system for practicing health trades. The new system bars practicing any profession in the field of health unless a permission from the Ministry of Health was obtained. The system also sets a package of ethical and professional conditions for the practice. The Cabinet approved the appointment of Eng. Ali Ibn Abdullah Ibn Ali Al Naim as Undersecretary of the Ministry of Transport for Planning and Follow-up; Eng. Mohammed Ibn Madani Ibn Hamza Al-Ali as Undersecretary of the Mayor of the city of Al Madinah Al Munawarah for Renovation and Projects; Eng. Mufleh Ibn Mohammed Ibn Salih Al Zahrani as Assistant Undersecretary of the Ministry of Transport for Technical Affairs; Dr. Riyadh Ibn Kamal Khidir Najm as Assistant Undersecretary of the Ministry of Culture and Information for Engineering Affairs; and the transfer of Dr. Ahmed Ibn Humood Ibn Ghaith Al Roadan from the post of Director General for Administrative and Financial Affairs to the post of Assistant Undersecretary at the Ministry of Interior; Eng. Khalid Ibn Fadhl Ibn Mihdhar Aqeel from the post of Undersecretary of the Mayor of the city of Al Madinah Al Munawarah for Renovation and Projects to the post of Undersecretary of the Mayor for Services at the same municipality.