ICC decision not helpful: Kingdom

P.K. Abdul Ghafour, Arab News

JEDDAH: Saudi Arabia yesterday expressed its strong dissatisfaction over the International Criminal Court’s (ICC) decision to issue an arrest warrant for Sudan’s President Omar Bashir on charges of war crimes and crimes against humanity. The Kingdom said it would only complicate the Darfur problem rather than solving it.

The Council of Ministers, chaired by Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah, reaffirmed Saudi Arabia’s support for Sudan, saying Riyadh would stand by Khartoum to confront “whatever undermines its sovereignty, stability and territorial integrity.”

The Kingdom urged the relevant parties to continue their efforts to counter the aftermath of the ICC decision. “We call upon the UN Security Council to shoulder its responsibility toward preserving Sudan’s peace and stability,” the Saudi Press Agency (SPA) quoted the Cabinet as saying.

Culture and Information Minister Abdul Aziz Khoja said the Cabinet also approved new regulations on sales of residential, commercial, office, service and industrial plots and buildings.

“It has banned the sale of such real estate properties or announcements about them in the local and foreign media or marketing them in the Kingdom or displaying them at exhibitions, except after receiving approval from the relevant committee,” the new law said.

The Cabinet set up a committee at the Ministry of Commerce and Industry to look into applications for real estate development, set out conditions for the technical and financial qualifications of developers as well as conditions for consumer rights and management of joint benefits.

“The committee will also work out conditions for the declaration of sold real estate properties and the mechanism to protect consumers from the sale of a single property to a number of people by developers and middlemen,” SPA said, quoting the Cabinet decision.

The Cabinet also decided to implement the Saudi Construction Code on an experimental basis for two years. The code aims at achieving public safety and protecting public health by ensuring the strength and stability of buildings and institutions and creating a healthy atmosphere, adequate ventilation and light, conserving the use of water and energy and safeguarding people and property from danger.

The Cabinet expressed the Kingdom’s support for Lebanon in its endeavor to maintain stability, peace and national unity. The Kingdom welcomed the upcoming joint summit of Arab and Latin American countries in Qatar on March 31 and hoped Latin American countries would support Arab causes, especially the establishment of a Palestinian state with Jerusalem as its capital.