Jeddah's historical area will be nominated a second time for UNESCO's list of World Heritage Sites, officials said after a meeting to discuss developments to improve the area. Prince Sultan Bin Salman, President of the Saudi Commission for Tourism and Antiquities, Vice Chairman of the High Committee for the Development of Historic Jeddah and Chairman of Follow-up Committee, presided over the Follow-up Committee's fourth meeting to discuss developments relating to the historical area. Members of the committee recommended a project to file the nomination again, establish a department under the Jeddah Mayoralty to develop the historical area and choose a specialist team of archeologists to explore the area for one year. The first nomination was rejected in June; Dr. Ziyyad Al-Derais, the Kingdom's permanent representative to UNESCO, said at the time that there was a technical problem. According to the UNESCO nomination process a country must first take an inventory of its significant cultural and natural properties. This is called the Tentative List, and is important because a country may not nominate properties that have already been included on the Tentative List. Next, it can select a property from this list to place into a Nomination File. At this point, the file is evaluated by ICOMOS and the World Conservation Union. There are 10 selection criteria and a site must meet at least one of them to be included on the list. Prince Sultan Bin Salman said the meeting was held based on the directives of Prince Khaled Al-Faisal, Emir of Makkah region and Chairman of the High Committee for the Development of Historic Jeddah. The meeting was attended by Prince Mish'al Bin Majed Bin Abdul Aziz, Jeddah Governor and Vice Chairman of the Follow-up Committee; Dr. Hani Abu Ras, Jeddah Mayor; and Khalid Aqeel, Deputy Mayor of Jeddah.
