The Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud chaired the Cabinet's session at Al-Yamamah Palace in Riyadh on Monday afternoon. At the outset of the session, the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques welcomed, in his own name and on behalf of the Cabinet, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Naif bin Abdulaziz, Deputy Premier and Minister of Interior and Deputy Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman bin Abdulaziz, Second Deputy Premier and Minister of Defense, wishing them and the new Ministers and officials every success in their new posts. The King expressed deep pride of Prince Muqrin bin Abdulaziz Al Saud for the service of the nation and his assumption of responsibilities in all honesty and sincerity, also expressing his deep thanks and appreciation to former ministers and officials for their efforts in serving the nation. The Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques welcomed the leaders of Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) for Arab States on the occasion of the 15th annual consultative meeting to be held in Riyadh on Tuesday, praying to Allah Almighty to guide the GCC leaders to achieve further aspirations of their peoples and support the march of GCC joint action towards various Arab, Islamic and international issues. Then, the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques briefed the Cabinet on his talks with King Mohammed VI of the Kingdom of Morocco; President Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi of the Arab Republic of Egypt and President Isaias Afwerki of Eritrea, as well as the contents of phone calls he received from King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa of the Kingdom of Bahrain; President Francois Hollande of France and President Ismail Omar Guelleh of the Republic of Djibouti, in addition to the content of the message he received from President Dr. Mohammed Ashraf Ghani of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan. The King also briefed the Cabinet on the results of his meetings with the Prime Minister of New Zealand John Key; the Prime Minister of Romania Victor Ponta and the GCC Secretary General Dr. Abdullatif bin Rashid Al-Zayani. The Minister of Culture and Information, Dr. Adel bin Zaid Altoraifi said in a statement to Saudi Press Agency (SPA) after the session, that the Cabinet extended its thanks and appreciation to the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques for his efforts to serve the religion and the homeland, stressing that his royal orders including the selection of Prince Mohammed bin Naif bin Abdulaziz as Crown Prince and his appointment as Deputy Premier and Minister of Interior, and the selection of Prince Mohammed bin Salman bin Abdulaziz as Deputy Crown Prince and his appointment as Second Deputy Premier and Minister of Defense and the new appointments reflect his keenness on promoting and enhancing the interests of the nation and its future and maintaining its stability and continuity on the foundations on which it was founded, in addition to preserving its high interests aimed for the good of his loyal people. Then, the Cabinet was briefed on a number of reports on the latest regional and international developments and extended its thanks and appreciation to the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques for standing by the Yemeni people and supporting them in these circumstances, highlighting his directives to Crown Prince, Deputy Premier and Minister of Interior to take the necessary actions to correct the conditions of the Yemeni expatriates who are illegally residing in the Kingdom before 20/06/1436 AH corresponding to 09/04/2015, stressing that this directive is an extension of the Kingdom's brotherly positions towards the Yemeni government and people by supporting them and easing their burdens in these circumstances. The Cabinet welcomed the appointment of Ismail Ould Cheikh Ahmed of Mauritania as a new envoy of the Secretary General of the United Nations to the Republic of Yemen, wishing him success in his mission and endeavors. It also hailed the results of the consultative meeting of the GCC Ministers of Interiors during which they approved the mechanism of action of the GCC's Committee on Unified Terrorist List to enhance GCC's joint security action in the field of counter-terrorism and emphasize the firm position of GCC's countries on renouncing terrorism and extremism and the need to intensify security efforts to combat this deviant thought and dry its sources of funding. The Cabinet also praised the results of the preparatory meeting of the GCC's Foreign Ministers for the 15th Consultative Meeting of the leaders of the GCC countries. On local affairs, the Minister of Culture and Information said that the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques thanked the Ministry of Interior for its efforts in detecting and thwarting a number of terrorist plots that target the country's youth and capabilities in several regions of the Kingdom. Such terrorist plots are set by elements of the deviant group to serve terrorist organizations abroad, and to target the Kingdom and its approach which is based on the Holy Quran and Sunnah. The Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques stressed that the citizens and expatriates are responsible for maintaining security and reporting whoever feels tempted to harm the security of the Kingdom. The Cabinet also reviewed a number of scientific and economic activities and forums held during the week, praising in this context the International Experts Workshop on Carbon Management and its Implications as well as the First Global Methane Initiative (GMI) Workshop and Exhibition which were held in Khobar. The Cabinet also addressed the Kingdom's participation in Beijing Energy Club which was held in Beijing under the theme 'The Power of Partnership'. The Cabinet reiterated the importance of a fair price for both the oil producers and consumers and the industry as well as the importance of cooperation by states, producers and consumers to ensure transparency and reduce volatility. Dr. Adel bin Zaid Altoraifi said that the Cabinet reviewed a number of issues on its agenda and issued the following decisions: First: The Cabinet authorized the General President of Youth Welfare - or his deputy - to discuss with the Iraqi side and sign a draft cooperation agreement in the field of youth and sports between the General Presidency for Youth Welfare of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and the Ministry of Youth and Sports of the Republic of Iraq. Second: The Cabinet authorized the Minister of Foreign Affairs - or his deputy - to discuss with the Peruvian side and sign a draft memorandum of understanding on political consultations between the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Peru. Third: The Cabinet approved the addition of a representative of the Royal Commission for Jubail and Yanbu to the National Committee for Legalization and Standardization of the Operation and Maintenance. Fourth: The Cabinet approved a number of measures pertaining to the fuel prices in Saudi airports compared to fuel prices in the region's airports. Fifth: The Cabinet approved the final account of the General Organization of Ports for the fiscal year 1434/1435H. Sixth: The Cabinet approved an amendment to Article (6) of the Anti-Cyber Crime Law issued by the Royal Decree No. (M/17) dated 08/03/1428H. Seventh: The Cabinet approved a number of appointments as follows: 1- Sulaiman bin Mansour bin Hamad Al-Shuaibi appointed to the post of Financial and Administrative Advisor (Rank 15) at the Ministry of Health. 2- Saad bin Ibrahim bin Mishari Al-Angari appointed to the post of Director General of Port (Rank 15) at the General Organization of Ports. 3- Eng. Saud bin Rashid bin Abdullah Al-Askar appointed to the post of Deputy Governor (Rank 15) at the Saudi Standards, Metrology and Quality Organization. 4- Mohammed bin Khalaf bin Mohammed Al Mutalq appointed to the post of Security Advisor (Rank 14) at the Ministry of Interior. 5- Eng. Abdullah bin Ahmed bin Hamed Al-Ghamdi appointed to the post of Civil Engineer Consultant (Rank 14) at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. 6- Abdulrahman bin Mohammed bin Suleiman Al-Kherb appointed to the post of Director General of Customs Control (Rank 14) at the Saudi Customs. The Cabinet reviewed a number of annual reports of the Ministry of Housing, the Public Pension Agency, the General Organization for King Faisal Specialist Hospital and Research Center, and issued its directives towards them.
