Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Fahd bin Abdulaziz today chaired the first meeting of the Council of Ministers following the Eid El-Fitr recess, and began by expressing grief and sadness of the death of Sheikh Muhammad bin Salih bin Uthaimeen, an eminent religious scholar who passed away in Jeddah last Wednesday.

The cabinet went on to praise the outcome of the 21st Summit of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) held recently in Manama, and especially the efforts of leader of the Saudi delegation, Deputy Prime Minister and Commander of the National Guard Crown Prince Abdullah bin Abulaziz, commenting on the spirit of cooperation and amicability, and the concern for the interests of the Gulf countries and safeguarding their future based on the principles upon which the GCC was established.
The cabinet discussed the upcoming Sixteenth National Culture and Heritage Festival at Jenadriyah just outside the capital, Riyadh, which opens on Wednesday January 17, 2001. The festival is an important cultural forum of great interest to intellectuals in many parts of the world.
The cabinet then passed a number of resolutions, including increasing by three the national committee concerned with enforcing the ban on chemical weapons, with new members from the Ministry of Agriculture and Water, the Royal Commission for Jubail and Yanbu, and the Environmental Protection Agency; revision of the second part of the regulations on currency counterfeiting; approval of negotiating an agreement with the Republic of Germany on the exchange of classified information; and approval for the signing of an agreement on protection of investments with the Republic of Austria.

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