Saudi Arabia yesterday urged the Palestinians to adopt a new and realistic concept of resistance that would realize their unity, strengthen their legitimate organizations, protect their lives and properties and ensure their legitimate rights.

The Council of Ministers, chaired by Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah, also emphasized the need to strengthen Arab unity and cautioned against certain countries that hide their regional ambitions under the cover of supporting Arab and Muslim causes.

The Cabinet told Palestinian factions that there was no option except their unity. It also gave a new direction to Arab and Islamic communities, saying they should follow the way of economic, social and cultural development, stick to the highest Islamic goals and be ready to have dialogue with other cultures and peoples. The Kingdom called for joint legal, political and economic endeavors to confront the policies of Israel and its supporters.

The Cabinet statement came a day after the visit of US Middle East envoy George Mitchell to Riyadh who came in search of finding a solution to the Palestinian-Israeli conflict. King Abdullah reportedly told Mitchell that he should focus on achieving a just and comprehensive Middle East peace settlement that would ensure Palestinians an independent state where they could live peacefully.

Referring to the issue of Arab unity, the Cabinet said it required a new approach without sidelining major issues and arousing emotions. “It also demands discarding of the policies of axis, classification and conspiracy.”

During the Arab economic summit in Kuwait last month, King Abdullah urged Arab leaders to open a new era of Arab unity and solidarity. “Allow me to announce in all our names that we have overcome the period of disunity, opening the door of Arab brotherhood, and that of unity for all Arabs without exception or reservation, and that we will face the future with total unity and without any discord.”

The king said Arab disunity and dissension were aiding the treacherous Israeli enemy and those who seek to disunite the Arabs for their regional objectives. He told Palestinians that their internal dispute is more threatening to their cause than the Israeli invasion.

Yesterday’s Cabinet meeting commended King Abdullah’s support for the forum on social responsibility partnership between the public and private sectors that opened in Riyadh on Sunday. “Islam has given the utmost importance to social support and it is a pioneer in the endowment system that aims to achieve social balance.”

Culture and Information Minister Iyad Madani said the Cabinet had taken a number of other important decisions. It endorsed the national strategy for industry and the mechanism for its implementation. “The strategy aims at strengthening the Kingdom’s industrial sector, improving the living standard of Saudis and creating more jobs for them,” he said. It authorized the president of the Saudi Red Crescent Authority to sign a cooperation agreement with the Arab Traffic Safety Organization.