JEDDAH, 3 May 2005 — The Council of Ministers yesterday reviewed damages caused by hailstorms and flashfloods that hit many parts of the Kingdom last weekend and urged immediate action to alleviate the suffering of disaster-stricken people.
Prince Sultan, second deputy premier and minister of defense and aviation, who chaired the meeting in Riyadh, said Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Fahd had ordered emergency assistance to be dispatched to all areas hit by Thursday’s rainstorms.
The victims of natural calamities would be provided with all necessary support, the Saudi Press Agency said quoting a Cabinet statement.
More than 40 people, including a number of expatriates, died and many others were injured as a result of heavy rains and subsequent flooding in various parts of the country. The casualties were mainly in the Asir and Makkah regions.
Several houses and bridges collapsed in the rainstorms and herds of cattle were destroyed as farms were washed away.
The Cabinet expressed satisfaction over the outcome of Crown Prince Abdullah’s recent visit to the United States and said the visit would take bilateral relations to new heights. Prince Abdullah met with US President George W. Bush at his Texas ranch on April 25.
A joint communiqué issued after the meeting said the United States and Saudi Arabia, as partners, would work together to complete negotiations on the Kingdom’s accession to the World Trade Organization before the end of this year. The two countries agreed to continue their cooperation to stamp out terrorism and freeze financial sources of terrorist organizations.
The Cabinet also noted Washington’s promise to find a just settlement for the Palestinian-Israeli conflict paving the way for the two democracies living side by side in peace and security.
Meanwhile, Crown Prince Abdullah is scheduled to visit Algeria, Egypt and the United Arab Emirates this week with talks expected to focus on Middle East peace.
During his one-day visit to Algeria, Prince Abdullah will discuss with President Abdelaziz Bouteflika, whose country hosted the last Arab summit, “the position expressed by President Bush on the Arab peace initiative” for a Middle East settlement, Al-Hayat newspaper reported.
“Prince Abdullah agreed to meet with Bouteflika when he expressed his regret for not attending the Algiers summit,” the daily pointed out.
The paper said the crown prince would make a “lightning” visit to Egypt for talks with President Hosni Mubarak on the Middle East peace process. The peace initiative demands greater coordination among Arab countries to reach consensus, Al-Hayat said, adding that the crown prince might visit other Arab countries during the tour.
Prince Abdullah’s visit to Abu Dhabi is his first after the death of Sheikh Zayed and after Sheikh Khalifa ibn Zayed took over the reign. The crown prince is currently on a private visit to Morocco where he arrived on Thursday.
In other decisions, the Cabinet welcomed the new Iraqi government formed by Prime Minister Ibrahim Jaafari. The Cabinet welcomed Syrian announcement on the completion of the withdrawal of its forces from Lebanon. Saudi Arabia also denounced Saturday’s terrorist attacks in Cairo.
The meeting approved new rules and regulations for towing abandoned vehicles and keeping them in custody. As per the law, no vehicle will be impounded without a written order from the traffic police. A vehicle may be towed away 15 days after giving notice to its owner and auctioned 90 days after remaining in custody.
The Cabinet authorized the foreign minister to sign an agreement on the privileges, immunities and concessions given to Arabsat headquarters in Riyadh. It appointed Abdullah ibn Abdul Aziz Al-Rasheed, as adviser for military works affairs at the Defense and Aviation Ministry, and Hilal ibn Abdul Rahman Al-Hilal as assistant deputy minister for planning and development.
