Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Fahd bin Abdulaziz, chairing the regular weekly meeting of the Council of Ministers today, expressed his appreciation and thanks to the leaders of Arab, Islamic and friendly countries and heads of international organizations for their sympathy and solidarity with the Kingdom in regard to the wicked criminal act that occurred in Al-Khobar in the Eastern Province, perpetrated by a deviant group of terrorists, and that led to the killing of innocent people, which is a crime forbidden by God Almighty. Extending his condolences to the families of the victims, and wishing those injured a speedy recovery, King Fahd stressed that such crimes perpetrated by deviant groups will have no effect whatsoever on the Kingdom's unity and status, nor on the strong bond between the people and their leadership: on the contrary, they only further enhance the country’s strength and its resolve to combat terrorism in all its forms.

Turning to domestic issues, the Cabinet passed a number of resolutions, including approval of the proposal by the Consultative Council (Majlis Al-Shura) concerning disclosure in commercial transactions, designating the Department of Investigations and General Prosecution to be in charge of enforcing the law instead of the Ministry of Commerce and Industry; approval of a number of regulations slated to increase job opportunities for Saudi women, including replacing non-Saudi female shopkeepers; and approval for three foreign banks to open branches in the Kingdom: Germany’s Deutsche Bank, France’s BNP Paribas and the United States’ JP Morgan Chase.

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