Deputy Prime Minister and Commander of the National Guard Crown Prince Abdullah bin Abdulaziz today chaired the regular weekly meeting of the Council of Ministers. Stressing Saudi Arabia’s relentless pursuit of all members of the deviant group who are suspected of acts of terrorism and of trying to destabilize the country’s security or infringe on its founding principles, he vowed that the Kingdom will continue to seek out and flush out from their hideouts all such deviants, and chase them down and eradicate them. Saudi Arabia, he declared, will stay the course of wiping out this deviant group and stamping out the terrorism and terrorists that have targeted the homeland's security and safety. Crown Prince Abdullah went on to express his appreciation for the efforts and sacrifices made by all military personnel, particularly the security forces, saying these have greatly contributed to eliminating a number of cells of sedition and aborting a great many planned operations of sabotage and intimidation. He also expressed appreciation of the outstanding cooperation with security officers that has been shown by citizens and residents in the Kingdom.
Crown Prince Abdullah then briefed the Cabinet on his talks with visiting Prime Minister of the United Kingdom Tony Blair, which dealt with the latest international developments, notably the Palestinian cause and the situation in Iraq, as well as bilateral relations and the upcoming British role as leader of the European Union when the U.K. assumes the rotating EU presidency for the next six months.
The Cabinet expressed its satisfaction at the outcome of the 32nd session of foreign ministers of the Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC) that was held recently in Sana’a, Yemen, and which promoted the interests of joint Islamic actions at political, economic, developmental and social levels. The Cabinet reaffirmed that activation of the role of the OIC, enhancement of its international presence, and the potential of its performance, depend on the support provided by its member states, which need to live up to their commitments. The Cabinet stressed the Kingdom's continued commitment to all its obligations towards the Organization.
On developments in the Middle East, the Cabinet reiterated its call to all peace-loving nations to stand against the grave violations committed daily by Israeli forces in Palestinian territories, including destruction of buildings and lands for the sake of erecting the wall of racial segregation inside the West Bank, thereby imposing siege on residential areas there.
As for Iraq, the Cabinet again urged a halt to the acts of violence and destruction that have led to the killing of so many innocent people and the destruction of Iraq's infrastructure.
Turning to its agenda, the Cabinet passed a number of resolutions, including approval for the Kingdom’s accession to the Convention on the Privileges and Immunities of the United Nations, which was endorsed by the UN General Assembly on February 13, 1946, with reservations concerning a number of its articles in accordance with the April 18, 2005 decision [number 5/2 dated 09/03/1426H] of the Consultative Council (Majlis Al-Shura); approval of a memorandum of understanding between the Ministry of Islamic Affairs, Endowments, Call and Guidance and its Yemeni counterpart, aimed at intensifying cooperation in introducing Islam to the outside world and encouraging exchange of experience in affairs of mosques and imams; approval of an agreement on agricultural cooperation with the Republic of Yemen; approval for implementation of electronic transactions among government bodies, including the establishment of internal committees within each body for that purpose; and authorization for the Minister of Transport or his deputy to sign the protocol for standardizing the rules and procedures for the transit of vehicles within countries which are party to the protocol.
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