Crown Prince Abdullah bin Abdulaziz, the Deputy Premier and Commander of the National Guard, chaired the Cabinet's weekly session at Al-Yamamah Palace in Riyadh on Monday.
At the outset of the session, the Crown Prince briefed the Cabinet on his talks with Pakistan's President Pervez Musharraf which dealt with the latest developments at the international arena and the position of the two countries towards them. The talks also focused on aspects of bilateral cooperation and ways of their enhancement to serve the interest of Muslim nations and to strengthen the Islamic solidarity.
The Crown Prince also informed the Cabinet of the talks held with the U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, which dealt with bilateral relations between the two countries and the region's issues, particularly the Palestinian cause, the situation in Iraq and the combating of terrorism. The Crown Prince expressed his satisfaction about the constructive cooperation existing between the two countries.
The Crown Prince also briefed the Cabinet on the contents of consultations, meetings and contacts held over the previous days with leaders of some of the brotherly and friendly countries, on the latest developments and events in the region and the world, lead by the situations in Iraq and Palestine.
In a statement to the Saudi Press Agency (SPA) following the session, Iyad bin Amin Madani, the Minister of Culture and Information, said that the Cabinet reviewed the conference for supporting Iraq, which was recently held in Brussels, Belgium. The Kingdom appreciated the efforts of the European Union and the United States in preparing for this conference. The Cabinet stressed the clear vision adopted by the Kingdom in all the meetings it has participated since the onset of the Iraqi crisis. Such meetings should aim at achieving Iraq's independence, unity, security, stability and prosperity to live in peace with its neighbors. The Kingdom called again for commitment to non-intervention principle in Iraq's internal affairs and the necessity of maintaining its territorial integrity.
Briefed on a report on the Asian-Middle Eastern Dialogue recently held in Singapore, the Cabinet renewed the Kingdom's affirmation in its speech at the Conference, that the world today is in urgent need of uniting the international efforts to deepen dialogue, to raise the level of contacts and understanding between nations and civilizations, to strengthen the culture of peace for mutual respect, to enhance the principles of justice, tolerance and equality, and to renounce violence, injustice and racial discrimination.
The Cabinet also welcomed the announcement of the Minister of Petroleum and Mineral Resources that the Saudi Arabian Oil Company '' Saudi Aramco'' has discovered new and important quantities of gas and condensates in a well, 95 kilometers west of Dhahran city.
The Minister of Culture and Information said the Cabinet then reviewed the local items on its agenda and issued the following decisions:
The Cabinet endorsed a decision by the Shoura Council to join the International Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants, which was passed by the Commissioners Conference held in Stockholm from 22 to 23 May 2001.
The Cabinet also ratified an Arrangement on Customs Cooperation between the Government of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and the Government of the Republic of Yemen.
The Cabinet approved a proposal submitted by the Minister of Agriculture on the accession of the Kingdom to the FAO Commission on Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture according to the Organization's statute.
The Cabinet approved a proposed amendment of Article 1 of the Social Care Houses to read as follows: "Social Care Houses aim at taking care of juveniles between the ages of 12 and 18, unless otherwise decided by a judge or what could be ruled by an investigative body, that a juvenile should be kept in a social care house".
The Cabinet approved the appointment of Mohammed bin Sulaiman bin Abdulaziz Alribdi as Assistant Undersecretary of the Northern Border Governorate at the Ministry of Interior; and Eng. Sulaiman bin Abdulmalik bin Ibrahim Al Alsheikh as Director General of Computer Department at the Ministry of Justice.
