Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Fahd bin Abdulaziz today chaired the regular weekly meeting of the Council of Ministers, which strongly condemned Israel's recent occupation of the Orient House in the holy city of Al-Quds [Jerusalem], yet another example of repeated Israeli attacks targeting the Palestinians' religious sanctuaries and cultural sites that are designed to provoke the feelings of all Muslim and Arab people. Saudi Arabia stressed that Israel's insistence on continuing its provocative policy against Muslims in general and Palestinians in particular would lead the region into greater deterioration and instability. King Fahd called for more effective action from the United Nations and the international community, to stand firmly in face of Israel's arrogance, which confirms, through its aggressive practices, its lack of interest in peace and its strenuous endeavors to foil any step towards that end in addition to its non-compliance with the United Nations resolutions, and with the agreements and treaties that have been concluded in this regard.

Turning to domestic matters, the cabinet passed a number of resolutions, including authorization for the Second Deputy Prime Minister or his deputy to sign the Stockholm fixed organic pollutant elements agreement; approval of the Kingdom's accession to the second supplement of the protocol dealing with the protection of civilian victims of armed disputes in the Geneva Conventions; and endorsement of the agreement to establish a free trade zone with the Syrian Arab Republic.

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