Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Fahd Ibn Abdul Aziz today presided over the regular weekly meeting of the Council of Ministers, and reiterated the Kingdom's denunciation of Israel's continuing policy of expanding settlements in all parts of occupied Palestinian and Arab territories, and in particular the city of Jerusalem.  In spite of resumption of talks under the auspices of the United States of America, Saudi Arabia is still concerned that this settlement policy, being contradictory to all UN Security Council resolutions including number 465, forms a real and serious threat to the peace process.

Information Minister Dr. Fouad Al-Farsi reported that King Fahd renewed his call to the international community, particularly the cosponsors of the peace process and the countries of the European Union, to put pressure on Israel to halt all settlement activities. 

Concerning the Gulf, King Fahd praised the outcome of the recent meeting of the justice ministers of the GCC member states, and recalled that Islamic Shari'ah is the base on which the society, culture, ideology and security of the Kingdom are built.

Turning to internal affairs, King Fahd commended the excellent results accomplished by a Saudi medical research team which has detected a gene responsible for arthritic swelling in finger joints, adding that such discoveries put the Kingdom on a par with any advanced country in the world, and exhorting the scientific community to continue in their work, assured of full government support and the most sophisticated of equipment.

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