12 May 2009

RIYADH: The Council of Ministers yesterday endorsed the new charter of the 57-member Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC), the world’s largest organization of Muslim countries, which is based in Jeddah.

The new charter, which was adopted by the OIC summit in Dakar last year, aims at reforming the organization. It allows new countries to join the body with only a majority vote instead of unanimous agreement.

OIC Secretary-General Ekmeleddin Ihsanoglu said the new charter replaced the 1972 version, which was outdated. Established in September 1969, the OIC aims at promoting solidarity among Muslim countries.

The Cabinet meeting, chaired by Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah, authorized Foreign Minister Prince Saud Al-Faisal to sign an agreement between Saudi Arabia and the OIC regarding the organization’s headquarters.

The meeting decided to sign extradition agreements with Afghanistan and Argentina and authorized Second Deputy Premier and Minister of Interior Prince Naif to hold talks with officials of the two countries.

The Cabinet commended the resolutions taken by the GCC Consultative Summit in Riyadh, including the decision to set up the GCC central bank in the Saudi capital. The Gulf leaders also agreed to establish a railway linking the six member countries.

King Abdullah briefed the ministers on the content of messages and telephone calls he had received during the past week from world leaders including UAE President Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al-Nahyan, French President Nicolas Sarkozy, Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak, Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh and British Prime Minister Gordon Brown.

The Cabinet also emphasized the importance of the Council of International Understanding, which began its 27th session at the King Abdullah Economic City in Rabigh yesterday.

Foreign Minister Prince Saud briefed the Cabinet on the emergency meeting of the Arab League Council in Cairo that called for a comprehensive solution to end the Palestinian-Israeli conflict in order to establish lasting peace and stability in the region.

The Cabinet discussed the outcome of Arab and GCC health ministers’ meetings in Riyadh and emphasized the need to strengthen coordination among Arab countries in order to confront the swine flu pandemic.

The Cabinet meeting approved an agreement signed with Greece to avoid double taxation and prevent tax evasion. It also decided to sign a similar agreement with Ghana.

It appointed Fahd bin Nasser Al-Behairan minister plenipotentiary at the Foreign Ministry and Abdul Hadi bin Mohammed Bakhraiba assistant undersecretary for sports affairs at the Youth Welfare Presidency.