Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Fahd bin Abdulaziz today chaired the regular weekly meeting of the Council of Ministers, which reiterated the Kingdom's condemnation of Israel's decision to "expel" from Palestinian territories President of the Palestinian National Authority Yasser Arafat, stressing that this decision will lead to total collapse of the peace process and constitute a dangerous escalation in the region, as well as being in violation of international law and United Nations resolutions. Saudi Arabia renews its appeal to all countries that love peace and justice to exert efforts in good will to support the right of the Palestinian people to establish their independent state with Al-Quds [East Jerusalem] as its capital, blaming the Israeli side for the collapse of the truce which the Palestinian factions had been honoring and for the resulting tension in the Palestinian territories, which has undermined international efforts to implement the 'roadmap'.

On the Iraqi issue, the cabinet reiterated the Kingdom's concern for that country's unity, sovereignty, independence and territorial integrity, and reiterated the hope that joint efforts by the United Nations, the League of Arab States and the Iraqi Transitional Government will lead to the desired results of quickly stabilizing the situation by forming a sovereign, expanded constitutional government that guarantees equality among all members of the Iraqi people regardless of racial, ethnic or religious loyalties.
Turning to domestic issues, the cabinet passed a number of resolutions, including approval for an exchange of benefits between the Military and Civil Pension System and the private sector Social Security Insurance System; and authorization for the Minister of Finance or his deputy to sign an agreement on protection of mutual investments with the government of the Republic of Indonesia.

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