JEDDAH, 5 December 2006 — Saudi Arabia reiterated yesterday its support for Lebanon and urged its people to work together toward strengthening their country’s unity and stability through dialogue, reasoning and wisdom.
The Council of Ministers, chaired by Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah, made this call after reviewing the situation in Lebanon where Hezbollah and its allies have continued a sit-in protest in front of Prime Minister Fouad Siniora’s residence urging him to resign.
“King Abdullah emphasized that all Lebanese people should work to unify their rank, strengthen security and stability and give the upper hand to legitimacy, reasoning, wisdom and dialogue in order to overcome the present situation,” the Saudi Press Agency reported. The Saudi ruler warned that the continuation of the present situation would have negative impact on Lebanon’s stability, prosperity and national unity and its ability to take independent political decisions.
“We’ll provide full support for the goodness of Lebanon,” he added.
Culture and Information Minister Iyad Madani said the Cabinet commended the great efforts being made by security forces in monitoring suspicious activities of militants and carrying out pre-emptive operations. He was referring to the recent announcement on the arrest in various raids since September of 136 militants who were planning to carry out terrorist operations in the country.
“Everybody has a responsibility to confront the deviant takfiri (Muslims branding fellow Muslims as infidels) ideology that not only tarnishes the image of Islam but also harms the nation,” the Cabinet said about the extremist ideas.
Referring to the upcoming GCC summit in Riyadh, the Cabinet hoped that the conference would bring about positive and effective results in order to strengthen the Gulf Cooperation Council and bolster the region’s security and stability.
