TAIF, 25 July 2006 — Saudi Arabia has affirmed the need for an immediate cease-fire in Lebanon and Palestine in a weekly meeting of the Council of Ministers held at the Hawiyah Palace in Taif yesterday.
Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah, who chaired the meeting, informed the ministers of the details of the Kingdom’s ceaseless efforts at regional and international levels to defuse the crisis in Lebanon and Palestine.
The Council of Ministers emphasized the significance of intense diplomatic efforts ordered by King Abdullah, including his messages to President George Bush, British Premier Tony Blair and Russian President Vladimir Putin, Culture and Information Minister Iyad Madani said in a statement to the Saudi Press Agency following the council meeting.
The royal messages, carried by Foreign Minister Saud Al-Faisal, are clear but strong, calling for the pressing need for a cease-fire and end to Israel’s bloodshed and destruction in Lebanon and the occupied Palestinian lands.
The messages also stressed the need to put together all efforts to help Lebanon gain control of its territory as was specified in the Taif Agreements and in the Lebanese national dialogue to which all the diverse groups in Lebanon were signatories.
The king’s messages also urged the world leaders to make Israel own up to its responsibility for the destruction of the infrastructure and terrorizing the people by its full-scale war against Lebanon, said Madani.
The king also informed the council of the results of Crown Prince Sultan’s discussions with French President Jacques Chirac last week, Madani said.
“The Council of Ministers underscored that the big powers should exercise their moral and political responsibility to enforce an immediate cease-fire in Lebanon,” the minister said.
Madani added that the council declared both the government’s and people’s support to the Lebanese and Palestinians to lessen the suffering caused by Israel’s hostilities.
“The council is confident that the public donation campaign for the benefit of the Lebanese people beginning tomorrow will be a symbol of the overwhelming popular support to them,” Madani added.
The king had ordered last week a telethon and donation campaign to help the Lebanese.
The Council of Ministers also appreciated King Abdullah’s declaration in Taif of a new science and technology university with extra stress on high-level research and development by attracting renowned scientists.
Besides approving the naming of the university as the “King Abdullah University for Science and Technology,” the council called all government agencies to allocate a part of their budget outlays for scientific research and to adopt modern technology in their operations.
The council’s decisions include the approval of a ministerial committee’s report on the administrative regulations for municipal councils. The council also endorsed the agreement of cooperation in areas of security and combat of drugs and stimulants with Turkey.
The Cabinet approved the agreement between the Kingdom and the Philippines on mutual encouragement and protection of investments.
In another development, King Abdullah ordered a field hospital to be sent to Lebanon as part of the Kingdom’s efforts to help the war-battered Lebanese people, Health Minister Hamad Al-Manie said yesterday.
