Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Fahd Ibn Abdul Aziz today presided over the regular weekly meeting of the Council of Ministers and commented on the 66th National Day of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia which takes place on Wednesday, September 23, 1998, saying that on this day King Abdul Aziz Ibn Abdulrahman Al-Saud unified the country, once a theater of dispute, hostility and instability, and turned it into a haven of fraternity, prosperity, rapport and security, enabling complete application of Islamic Shari'ah [Law]. King Fahd went on to pay tribute to the founder of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and expressed the pride of the Saudi government and people in celebrating this great occasion. Recalling that King Abdul Aziz spent long years before being able to lay down the first bricks for the unification of his country, and that the first step in this process was the capture of Riyadh on Shawwal 5, 1319 H. [in 1902], King Fahd commented that this year's National Day celebration comes within these centenary celebrations, thus giving the occasion greater significance.

Information Minister Dr. Fouad Al-Farsi reported that King Fahd reaffirmed the Kingdom's adherence to the approach of King Abdul Aziz to both domestic and foreign policies, including strengthening ties and cooperation with sisterly and friendly countries, doing whatever is necessary for the service of Islam and the support of Muslims everywhere, and continuing efforts to lay the bases for security, peace and stability all over the world.
Reviewing the latest developments, the cabinet noted with regret the situation in the Middle East and the stalemate in the peace process due to the intransigence of the Israeli government and its failure to live up to its commitments and promises. The cabinet expressed appreciation of the efforts being exerted by the United States administration to break the current impasse and called on the international community to exert greater efforts in this regard towards the implementation of the relevant United Nations resolutions.
The cabinet then approved a number of domestic measures, including authorization for the General President of Youth Welfare or his representative to sign an agreement on cooperation with the Republic of Argentina.

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