JEDDAH, 15 March 2005 — The Council of Ministers yesterday decided to hold talks with the Czech Republic for promoting scientific and educational cooperation between the Kingdom and the East European country. The higher education minister has been authorized to sign an agreement with the Prague government after the talks.
The weekly Cabinet meeting, chaired by Crown Prince Abdullah, also approved the establishment of Saudi-Algerian Investment Company as well as a general cooperation agreement with Belarus, the Saudi Press Agency reported.
Culture and Information Minister Iyad Madani said the meeting at Al-Yamamah Palace in Riyadh reviewed the latest international developments, especially the situations in Iraq and the occupied Palestinian territories.
Prince Abdullah briefed the ministers on the outcome of his talks with Azerbaijan President Ilham Aliyev, who visited the Kingdom last week.
“Aliyev’s visit affirms the strong relations between the two countries and it comes within the efforts to strengthen these relations at various levels,” Madani said.
Interior Minister Prince Naif presented a report on his visit to Sanaa where he attended a meeting of the Saudi-Yemeni Border Committee and signed documents related to organizing border authorities.
The Cabinet decided to hold talks with Sudanese officials with a view to signing a memorandum of understanding between King Abdul Aziz Museum and Sudan National Archives.
It appointed Abdul Rahman ibn Muhammad Al-Manie director general of water in the Eastern Province; Abdul Aziz ibn Abdullah Al-Humaidan, assistant undersecretary at the Qasim governorate, and Abdul Aziz ibn Muhammad Asheaibi, director general of the scholarship division at the Higher Education Ministry.
Real Estate Ownership
The Shoura Council yesterday amended a law governing real estate ownership of non-Saudis. As per the amended law, non-Saudis can rent real estate in the holy cities of Makkah and Madinah for a renewable period of 10 years.
Non-Saudis are not allowed to own real estate within the borders of the holy cities except through inheritance or as endowment property, according to Dr. Hamoud Al-Badr, secretary-general of the Shoura Council.
