The Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz chaired the weekly session of the Council of Ministers here today.
At the beginning of the session, the King expressed Saudi hopes that the next senior level meeting of the United Nations General Assembly, in its 60th session, to be held in New York, will take effective and clear decisions on various issues which stand in the way of achieving development and stability for the whole world.
The King stressed the importance of the UN in fighting terrorism, and he highlighted Saudi Arabia's initiative in February in calling for, hosting, and organizing an international conference on fighting terrorism with wide international participation. He also highlighted Riyadh's declaration which was issued at the conference, which called for the establishment of an international center for fighting terrorism, and the wide international interest which was shown at the conference.
The King also stressed Saudi Arabia's keenness on seeing the UN and its affiliate agencies boost their roles in fighting poverty and helping developing countries to achieve sustainable development.
The King stressed Saudi Arabia's continued contribution directly, and through regional and international organizations, to supporting modernization and development projects in various countries of the world, and Saudi commitment to, and pioneering role in, the stability of the oil market to achieve a balance between the interests of producers and consumers and world economy.
The King also hoped that the UN would revitalize its organizational structures to ensure just and equal representation of all countries of the world and to accord the Islamic world the representation appropriate to its importance, size and spread throughout the world.
On another issue, the King valued the meeting of scholars, intellectuals and economists of the Islamic nation in Makkah during the past days and the meeting's views and recommendations which will be considered by leaders of the Islamic world at the extraordinary summit of the countries of the Organization of Islamic Conference in Makkah. The conference was organized in response to his call issued last year's Hajj season.
The Minister of Culture and Information, Mr. Iyad bin Ameen Madani, told Saudi Pres Agency following the session that the King then briefed the Council on the talk he held with the Palestinian Premier, Ahmad Quraia' which dealt with the Palestinian issue in general and the Saudi support for the Palestinian issue and people.
The King also briefed the Council on content of messages and contacts which took place last week with leaders and envoys of a number of Arab and other countries on various developments at the international scene and the Saudi stand on them.
The Minister said the Cabinet valued highly the security achievements by the security forces and all military sectors in pursuing members of the deviant group and in working hard to confront all forms of terrorism.
The Cabinet also commended the bilateral agreement signed by Saudi Arabia and the United States on access to markets in two sectors of goods and services trade and considered it a basic step in preparing the road for completion of Saudi accession to the World Trade Organization this year.
On another issue, the Minister said the Council marked the beginning of the new school year of 1426/1427 H and was briefed on preparations taken on this front, and congratulated students on this occasion, expressing confidence that teachers will follow the sound educational method which promotes the values of tolerance, moderation, seriousness, and scientific learning among students.
Madani said the Cabinet then reviewed the local items on its agenda and issued the following decisions:
The Cabinet approved the Human Rights Commission system submitted by the Minister of Interior. According to the system, the Commission, which is the sole governmental body to provide views and consultations on human rights in the Kingdom, will report directly to the Prime Minister. As a legal entity, the Commission will be completely independent in practicing its mission from its Riyadh base or any of its branches in the Kingdom. The board of directors of the Committee will be composed of the Commission's head, his deputy, at least 18 full-time members and at least six part-timers, who will serve for four renewable years.
The Cabinet approved a proposal co-submitted by the Ministers of Foreign Affairs and Finance to continue working according to paragraphs 1 and 2 of the Cabinet's decision No. 7 dated 1/1/1422 H allowing imports of Palestinian commodities and products, with the government shouldering the customs tariffs levied for one more year, effective 11/9/1426 H.
The Cabinet approved the appointment of the following people as members of the board of directors of the Saudi Development Fund for three years, effective from the date of the decision:
1. Dr. Khalid bin Ibrahim Aljandan
2. Eng. Mohammed bin Ahmed Zenel Ali Reza
3. Dr. Khalid bin Abdullah Alsalloum
4. Eng. Mutlaq bin Hamad Almiraished.
The Cabinet approved the appointment of Dr. Suleiman bin Abdullah bin Suleiman Alruwaished as Cities Planning Consultant at the Ministry of Municipal and Rural Affairs, and the appointement of Ibrahim bin Abdulkareem bin Ibrahim Almusallam as Administrative Consultant at the Ministry of Culture and Information.
