Meetings of the Council of Ministers

During its regular weekly sessions in January and February, the Council of Ministers reviewed the following topics:

The Council of Ministers, in a meeting on January 28 chaired by the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Fahd bin Abdulaziz, approved a major effort to crack down on money laundering with immediate implementation of measures recommended by a high-level specialized committee. The Cabinet instructed the committee, an affiliate of the Saudi Arabian Monetary Agency (SAMA), to report back to King Fahd, and to prepare a draft bill for combating money laundering in the Kingdom, taking into consideration the rules and regulations being enforced in other member states of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC). The Riyadh English-language daily Saudi Gazette reported that the Cabinet also decided to invite a team from the Paris-based Financial Action Task Force to evaluate the measures being implemented.

The Cabinet’s decisions came as banking and law enforcement authorities from 20 Asian countries attended an international conference on money laundering hosted by SAMA in Riyadh. The participants discussed ways of coordinating the efforts of their government and banking authorities in combating financial fraud and money laundering.

A statement from Minister of Interior Prince Naif bin Abdulaziz delivered at the conference by SAMA Governor Hamad Al-Sayyari emphasized Saudi Arabia’s cooperation with other governments and international organizations to combat financial, economic and other crimes, including money laundering that could be used to fund terrorist activities.

Throughout January and February, the Cabinet reviewed preparations made by various government agencies for Hajj, the annual pilgrimage to the Holy Mosque in Makkah. The success of this year’s pilgrimage was attributed to the meticulous planning and provision of a range of health, housing, transportation and other services to two million Muslims making the pilgrimage to the Holy Mosque in Makkah and also visiting the Prophet’s Mosque in Madinah.

Chairing a Cabinet meeting on January 21, King Fahd briefed the ministers on his talks with the interim leader of Afghanistan Hamid Karzai on relations between the two countries. He confirmed the Kingdom’s stance in support of the restoration of security and stability in Afghanistan as emanating from its great concern for preservation of the country’s territorial integrity, and the prosperity and well-being of its people. King Fahd said he expressed to Mr. Karzai Saudi Arabia’s commitment to providing any assistance necessary for the success of his government and the reconstruction of the country.

In meetings in January and February, the Cabinet reiterated its denunciation of Israel’s brutality against the Palestinian people, the escalation of acts of aggression that flagrantly violate international conventions and norms and basic human rights, and Israel’s reluctance to reach peaceful solutions that could prevent further violence and instability in the region. The Cabinet urged the international community to take a unified stance against Israel’s intransigence and force it to implement the various relevant international resolutions and bilateral agreements.

On January 14, the Cabinet approved the privatization of the King Faisal Specialist Hospital and Research Center in Riyadh, which will become a public company. All the hospital’s rights and assets, material and immaterial, at home and overseas, and all the hospital’s employees, will be transferred to this company, which will henceforward take full responsibility for the obligations of the hospital. A committee comprised of representatives from the Ministry of Finance and National Economy and the General Auditing Bureau will be entrusted with the assessment of these rights and assets.