JEDDAH, 14 August — Saudi Arabia yesterday urged the United Nations to press Israel to pull out of Orient House, the headquarters of the Palestine Liberation Organization occupied and closed down by Israel last week.
“The Kingdom urges the UN and the international community to play a more effective role by taking a firm and resolute stand in the face of Israeli arrogance,” the Council of Ministers said following a weekly meeting.
The Cabinet, chaired by Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Fahd, said Israel’s aggressive actions proved that the Jewish state does not want peace.
“On the contrary, it is working to block peace efforts,” it added.
The statement said that “the continuation by Israel of its arrogant policy, provoking Muslims and Palestinians, will further worsen the situation in the Middle East and push the whole region further into a phase of instability.”
State Minister and Acting Information Minister Dr. Madani Allaqi told the Saudi Press Agency that the Cabinet also endorsed the free-trade zone agreement between Saudi Arabia and Syria.
Crown Prince Abdullah, deputy premier and commander of the National Guard, briefed the ministers on his recent visit to the resort city of Taif.
During the weeklong visit, Prince Abdullah inaugurated a number of developmental projects including a cable car system, the largest in the Middle East and fifth largest in the world.
Commenting on the royal visit, King Fahd said it reflected the government’s desire to achieve development in all parts of the country. “Rural areas should have gained the same level of progress achieved by the cities,” he pointed out.
The Cabinet authorized Prince Sultan, second deputy premier and minister of defense and aviation, or his deputy to sign the Stockholm Agreement on Pollutants.
The meeting approved amendments to a number of articles in the Civil Status Law.
Allaqi said the meeting decided that the Kingdom would join the 1949 Geneva Convention’s protocol on protecting victims of non-international armed conflicts.
The Cabinet also approved the appointment of Abdullah ibn Saad Al-Abdul Hadi as ambassador at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Ali ibn Saleh Al-Ghamdi as director general of the Civil Status Department’s office in the Eastern Province.
