Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Fahd bin Abdul Aziz chaired the Cabinet’s weekly meeting at Al-Salam Palace here today.
At the outset of the session, the King briefed the Cabinet on talks held by the King and the Crown Prince with the President of Senegal, Abdullah Wad, which covered the latest developments in Islamic and international arenas.
In a statement to the Saudi Press Agency (SPA) following the session, the Minister of Culture and Information, Dr Fouad bin Abdulsalam Al-Farsy, said that the King praised the great efforts of security officials to foil terrorist operations. The King also lauded cooperation between citizens and security forces to combat terrorism in the Kingdom, which reflects their keen loyalty to the stability and security of Saudi Arabia.
On the situation in Iraq, the Minister of Culture and Information said that the Cabinet has been carefully following news on the transitional Governing Council, which was formed in accordance with article 9 of United Nations Security Council Resolution 1483 calling for the establishment of an interim Iraqi administration, leading to the establishment of a legitimate national government to assume power in Iraq. The Cabinet expressed their wish that the Iraqi people achieve their aspirations.
Regarding the Palestinian issue, the Kingdom hopes that the International Quartet Committee will play an effective role in supervising the progress in implementation of the ‘Road Map’, since the Palestinian leadership demonstrated its seriousness in providing the best possible circumstances for its implementation, and Palestinian groups and their leaders also expressed their readiness to cooperate in this regard.
The Cabinet then discussed items on its agenda, and took the following decisions:
The Cabinet approved a cooperation agreement in the water resource sector between the Government of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and the Government of the
Peoples Republic of China, which was signed on 21 October 2002.
The Minister of Petroleum and Mineral Resources or his deputy was authorized to
discuss with the Secretariat General of the International Energy Forum (IEF) the
drafting of the agreement on headquarters, immunities and privileges of the
Secretariat General of the IEF.
The meeting approved a cooperation agreement in the field of maritime transportation between the Government of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and the Government of the Kingdom of Jordan, which was signed in Amman on 15 October 2002.
The Cabinet approved the appointment of Mohammed Jameel Hashim as Minister Plenipotentiary at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs; Dr Mansour bin Nassir bin Abdullah Al-Hawasi as Undersecretary of the Ministry of Health for Executive Affairs; Ahmed bin Mohammed bin Abdullah Al-Dibyan as Director General of the Islamic Cultural Centre in London, an affiliate of the Ministry of Islamic Affairs, Endowments, Call and Guidance, and Ibrahim bin Abdulkareem bin Ibrahim Al-Musallam as Director General for Administrative and Financial Affairs at the Ministry of Culture and Information.
Source: SPA
