Saudi crown prince presides Gulf summit; customs federation delays

Saudi crown prince Abdullah Bin Abdul Aziz will preside over the Saudi delegation on behalf of King of Fahd Bin Abdul Aziz to the Arab Gulf summit due to be held on December 30 and 31 in al-Manama.

King Fahd had opened works of the last Gulf Cooperation Council GCC summit which was held in al-Riyadh in November 1999 in the absence of President of the United Arab Emirates UAE Sheikh Zayed Bin Sultan al-Nahyan, in which he called for a Gulf military unity.

The GCC leaders at the al-Riyadh summit postponed the date for implementing the GCC customs federation unity among the GCC member states until the beginning of March of the year 2005, at the request of the UAE.