JEDDAH, 13 July 2004 — Saudi Arabia yesterday called on the United Nations to force Israel to respect the World Court’s nonbinding ruling that its West Bank barrier is illegal.
On Friday the court delivered a sweeping indictment of the wall Israel is building in the occupied West Bank, declaring it illegal and calling for it to be torn down. The court said if the barrier became permanent it would be tantamount to a “de facto annexation” of occupied land and called for the United Nations to act after determining that the wall breached international law.
The Cabinet, chaired by Crown Prince Abdullah, welcomed the ruling by the International Court of Justice that “emphasized the illegality of the racist separation barrier being erected by Israel in the West Bank,” it said in a statement after the meeting in Jeddah.
“The Cabinet considered the ruling historic and (urged) the United Nations, represented by the General Assembly and the Security Council, to implement the ruling and force Israel to respect it and to cease its continuous violation of international law,” it added according to the Saudi Press Agency.
Foreign Minister Prince Saud Al-Faisal on Saturday called the ruling historic, saying it should be praised rather than condemned, a reference to US criticism of the ruling.
Minister of Culture and Information Fouad Al-Farsy said the Cabinet was briefed on the outcome of contacts between Custodian of the Two Holy Mosque King Fahd and world leaders over the past week, which touched on regional and international developments.
Al-Farsy said the Council of Ministers reviewed a report on the situation in the occupied Palestinian lands and the continuing Israeli aggression against the Palestinian people taking place “under the very nose of the whole world without the international community moving to stop it.”
The Cabinet also approved a request by the minister of finance to reshuffle the board of the Saudi Industrial Fund by naming a six-member panel headed by the minister.
