Riyadh (SPA)- The Saudi Council of Ministers has condemned the escalation of settlements by the Israeli authorities. This came during the weekly meeting of the Council headed by the Custodian of the two Holy Mosques King Abdullah bin Abdul Aziz at Yamamah Palace.
The Council stressed that this escalation is a major obstacle to the resumption of the peace process and threatens efforts to revitalize it and, in this regard, the council cited the European position on the illegality of Israeli settlement policy and the threat it poses to the resumption of the peace process.
In the local arena, the Council adopted its resolution approving the establishment of baselines for marine areas of the Kingdom in the Red Sea and Arabian Gulf in accordance with lists of geographical coordinates associated with the resolution, and agreed to change the name of National Commission for Wildlife Conservation and Development to become "Saudi Wildlife Commission" and agreed to extend the implementation of the provisions in paragraph (9) of the Cabinet decision that the Saudization rate applicable on the sectors of construction be 5% for a period of two years from 17/1/1430 H. The Council also approved the restructuring of the Board of Directors of Irrigation and Drainage for a period of three years from 2/27/1431 H under the chairmanship of His Excellency the Minister of Agriculture.