Deputy Prime Minister and Commander of the National Guard Crown Prince Abdullah bin Abdulaziz today chaired the regular weekly session of the Council of Ministers, and briefed the Cabinet on consultations he and Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Fahd bin Abdulaziz had held on international developments with visiting Prime Minister of Bahrain Shaikh Khalifa bin Salman Al-Khalifa. The Cabinet then expressed welcome of last Friday’s ruling of the International Court of Justice denouncing as illegal the segregation wall which is being built by Israel in the West Bank. Considering this ruling to be historic and important, the Cabinet urged international efforts, notably those of the United Nations in its General Assembly as well as the Security Council, to be united in implementing the ruling and putting pressure on Israel to respect it and desist from continued contravention of international law. The Cabinet stressed the importance of implementing all the UN Security Council resolutions on the rights of the Palestinians, given the latest reports on developments in the occupied Palestinian territories, where Israel persists in its aggressive practices, using its war machines against the unarmed Palestinian people to kill them, demolish their houses, and destroy the infrastructure of a number of Palestinian towns. All this is happening before the eyes of the international community, which has not moved to halt Israel's violence, arrogance and injustice against the Palestinian people.

Turning to domestic issues, the Cabinet passed a number of resolutions, including authorization for the Minister of Interior or his deputy to sign a draft agreement with the Republic of Poland on fighting crime; authorization for the Minister of Finance or his deputy to sign a draft agreement with the Czech Republic on promotion and mutual protection of investments; endorsement of a cooperation agreement with the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan in the field of youth and sports; and re-formation of the board of directors of the Saudi Industrial Development Fund for three years effective July 25, 2004.

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