JEDDAH, 10 July 2007 — The Council of Ministers yesterday urged the 23-member Arab League to play a more active role in resolving regional issues and crises such as Palestine, Iraq and Lebanon. It also decided to set up a research and studies center to strengthen the Kingdom’s oil industry.
“The council emphasized the importance of following up the steps adopted by the Arab summit in Riyadh to promote joint Arab action and that the Arab League should have a pivotal role in the Palestinian scene,” the Saudi Press Agency said, quoting Culture and Information Minister Iyad Madani.
The Cabinet also urged the Arab League to send a fact-finding mission to Palestine as decided by the Riyadh summit. “The league should also work to stabilize the situation in Lebanon and support the country’s decisions of national interest,” said the Cabinet meeting, which was chaired by Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah.
The Arab League should play an important role in Iraq in order to protect the country’s unity and territorial integrity and ending the bloody sectarian violence there, the Cabinet said. The king earlier briefed the ministers on the outcome of his talks with Arab League Secretary-General Amr Moussa in Jeddah.
Speaking about the upcoming reconciliation conference of Somali factions, the Cabinet said the conference must try to reach a comprehensive agreement in order to stop violence and prevent enemies from making the country an area of their influence.
The Cabinet meeting appointed Foreign Minister Prince Saud Al-Faisal and Prince Bandar ibn Sultan, secretary-general of the National Security Council, as members of the Military Service Council.
Referring to the approved Petroleum Studies & Research Center, Madani said it would be managed by a seven-member board of trustees chaired by the minister of petroleum and mineral resources. Its members will be experts in oil and scientific research and will be appointed by the king for a renewable term of three years.
The center will carry out scientific and applied research that will contribute to the development of the Kingdom’s oil industry and protect its environment, the Cabinet said.
It will also conduct studies on world oil market situation and follow up policies adopted by oil consuming and producing countries as well as strategic trends of international oil giants.
The center will also focus on the development and training of manpower and improvement of research capabilities. It will follow up latest developments and inventions in oil industry. Its revenue will come from state contributions, gifts, donations, grants, legacy and endowments.
In another development, the Shoura Council yesterday urged the government to speed up implementation of the Kingdom’s railway expansion project including the 950-km landbridge that links the country’s east with its west and the 500-km Makkah-Madinah Rail Link that would facilitate transportation of pilgrims and other passengers between the two holy cities and Jeddah. The 150-member Shoura urged the Saudi Railways Organization to include the phases of implementation of the railway expansion projects in its future annual reports.
