JEDDAH, 17 July 2007 — The Council of Ministers yesterday set up a national population committee to formulate policies and strategies related to population and set up a database. It also approved alterations into the Kingdom’s Company Law.
Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah, who chaired the Cabinet meeting at Al-Salam Palace in Jeddah, emphasized Saudi Arabia’s efforts to establish peace and stability in the Middle East and other parts of the world.
The Cabinet said the Israeli occupation of Palestinian and Arab territories must end in order to achieve security and stability in the region. It also denounced the delaying tactics adopted by the Jewish state since the Madrid peace conference in 1991.
The Cabinet warned Israel that its policy of arrogance would only beget more violence, engulfing first the Israelis before any other nationals. “This situation will also alienate Arab societies from countries that support Israeli policies and keep mum about them,” the Saudi Press Agency quoted the Cabinet as saying in a statement.
The Cabinet reiterated its support for the Arab peace plan, which was originally proposed by Abdullah when he was crown prince. “The road to peace lies through the Arab peace plan and in creating a conducive atmosphere to unify the Palestinian rank,” the Cabinet said.
Referring to the situation in Iraq, the meeting called upon Iraqi leaders to reach a consensus on political unity guaranteed by the country’s constitution.
It also hoped that the meeting of Lebanese politicians and personalities in France would lead to a solution that would protect Lebanon’s independence and end foreign interference in the country’s internal affairs.
The Cabinet said it has been following up the efforts to unify the ranks of Somalis and expressed its view that the current reconciliation efforts should cover all Somali groups. It urged regional forces not to create division among the Somalis.
Speaking about the national population committee, Culture and Information Minister Iyad Madani said the 10-member panel includes the minister of economy and planning as chairman and deputy ministers of interior, health, higher education, education, social affairs, labor, and economy and planning and two population experts as members.
“The committee will propose population policy and identify its objectives taking into consideration the state’s general policy,” Madani said. “The objectives of the population policy will be merged with the state’s development plans and strategies,” he added.
The committee will also follow up the recommendations related to population issued by regional and international conferences as well as implementation of population policies.
The Cabinet changed Article 158 of the Company Law, replacing the sentence “the capital of a limited liability company will be not less than SR500,000” with “the capital of a limited liability company will be decided by its partners in the establishment agreement.”
