Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Fahd bin Abdulaziz today chaired the regular weekly meeting of

the Council of Ministers and expressed satisfaction at the level of implementation of the Saudi-Yemeni

border treaty, saying that the follow-up committees have been working with team spirit, and that full

understanding and complete cooperation prevail, reflecting the firm fraternal relations that exist between

the two countries.

Minister of Interior Prince Nayef bin Abdulaziz briefed the cabinet on the dangers being faced by Saudi

citizens on account of the phenomenon of the Kingdom's hazardous traffic. His report stated that over the

last ten years, 35,037 people have been killed and 284,869 seriously injured in traffic accidents, a rate of

one fatality and eight injuries every two hours. This has cost the national economy over SR 7 billion (U.S.

$ 1.87 billion). Stressing the importance of new strategies aimed at controlling traffic behavior and

curbing the lack of compliance and the negligence of public order on the streets, the cabinet noted that

this phenomenon exists in spite of the advanced traffic safety capabilities that are available in the

Kingdom, and the well-established and highly-qualified public transportation infrastructure.
The cabinet called for all necessary arrangements to be made to implement the comprehensive national

media campaign set to be launched later tonight, that aims at restoring order to the traffic and activating

traffic laws, by on the one hand enlightening drivers and passengers, and on the other tightening penalties

for traffic law violators. The cabinet also instructed that executive measures should coincide with the

national media campaign appealing to drivers to take out cooperative motor insurance, and urged both

citizens and expatriates to respond positively to the campaign.
The cabinet then reviewed the latest developments in the international and regional arena, particularly

with regard to the Middle East peace process, emphasizing that the King, government and people of Saudi

Arabia support the Palestinian people in regaining their legitimate right in establishing their independent

state with Al-Quds [Jerusalem] as its capital. The cabinet deplored Israel's endeavors to undermine efforts

for the peace process, citing the attempts to grant Israeli nationality to certain Palestinians in Al-Quds in

order to increase the number of Israelis and use this as a card in negotiations between the two sides over

the status of the city.
Turning to domestic matters, the meeting endorsed the following:

• the new bill on travel documents;
• the Rotterdam Agreement concerning circulation of chemical materials and dangerous pesticides in international commerce;
• the proposal that the Kingdom join the convention to eliminate all forms of discrimination against women that was approved by the United Nations in 1979, noting that Saudi Arabia would nevertheless remain committed to Islamic prescription on the status of women, whenever contradiction arises between the two;
• the objectives, principles, commitments and working plans of the report issued by the United Nations Habitat Conference held in Istanbul from June 2 to 14, 1996, with the provision that the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia is not obligated by any aspect that contradicts with Islamic Sharia [Law].

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