Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Fahd bin Abdulaziz today chaired the regular weekly meeting of the Council of Ministers, which again addressed the situation in the Middle East, declaring that in view of the daily killings and destruction committed by Israel against innocent and unarmed Palestinians, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia gravely doubts that any new initiatives will be able to effect a breakthrough in the current stalemate. Reiterating the Kingdom's denunciation of Israel's actions against Islamic holy places in Al-Quds [Jerusalem], King Fahd urged those in the international community who love peace to activate the existing United Nations resolutions on peace in the Middle East that call for restoration of legitimate Arab rights and an end to Israeli violations of Islamic sanctuaries. The free world and peace-loving countries concerned for stability in the Middle East, he said, should intensify their efforts not only towards initiating new initiatives but also in activating existing mechanisms for applying the relevant resolutions.

King Fahd went on to brief the cabinet on talks he had in Jeddah with Lebanese Prime Minister Rafiq Al-Hariri last week, saying they covered the overall situation in the Middle East as well as bilateral relations. He also briefed the cabinet on his meeting with the speaker of the National Assembly of the Democratic and Popular Republic of Algeria Abdulqadir bin Saleh, as the delegate of Algerian President Abdulaziz Bouteflika.
Turning to domestic matters, the cabinet passed a number of resolutions, including approval of regulations to protect historical manuscripts; authorization for the Minister of Foreign Affairs or his deputy to discuss two draft agreements, one with the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia and the other with the Republic of Hungary, on cooperation in the areas of trade, commerce, investment, technology, culture, sports and youth; and approval of a draft agreement with Malaysia on the mutual encouragement and protection of investment.

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