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 briefed the Cabinet on the telephone call with President Barack Obama of the United States of America during which they affirmed deep, strategic and historical relations between the two friendly countries and their keenness on strengthening them in all fields. The King expressed his thanks and appreciation to President Barack Obama and the leaders and heads of delegations of Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) for Gulf Arab states for what has been achieved at Camp David meeting of positive results and the confirmation of the two sides of a joint commitment to a strategic partnership between the United States of America and the Gulf Cooperation Council States to build closer relations in all fields, including cooperation in defense and security fields. The King also expressed his thanks to Crown Prince Mohammed bin Naif bin Abdulaziz, Deputy Premier and Minister of Interior, who headed the Kingdom's delegation participated in the meeting, and Prince Mohammed bin Salman bin Abdulaziz, Deputy Crown Prince, Second Deputy Premier and Minister of Defense, for the their efforts, including a series of meetings held with President Barack Obama and senior officials of the United States on bilateral relations, aspects of cooperation between the two countries, ways of enhancing them, and the latest developments in the region. The Minister of Culture and Information Dr. Adel bin Zaid Altoraifi said in a statement to Saudi Press Agency (SPA) following the session that the Cabinet discussed a number of reports on various issues and the latest developments at Arab, regional and international arenas. The Cabinet stressed the joint statement issued after a meeting of the leaders and heads of the delegations of Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) for Arab States with the President of the United States at Camp David, its assurances to consolidate the strong partnership and cooperation between the two sides, the development of collective solutions to regional issues to enhance mutual interest in stability and prosperity, the positions towards various regional and international issues, and the commitment of both sides to consolidating American-Gulf relations on various issues to build a strong, lasting, comprehensive and strategic partnership aiming to enhance regional stability and prosperity. The Cabinet expressed its thanks and appreciation to the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques for his announcement and patronage of the founding ceremony of King Salman Center for Relief and Humanitarian Works and the inauguration and laying the foundation stone for its permanent headquarters, which will be dedicated to humanitarian works and be a leading international center for the relief of societies suffering from disasters, commending the announcement by the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques to allocate one billion riyals for the Center's relief and humanitarian works, in addition to his directive to allocate more than one billion riyals in response to the humanitarian and relief needs of the Yemeni people emanating from the teachings of Islam for imperatively relieving the forlorn and helping the needy as an extension of the humanitarian role of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and its international message in this field. The Cabinet welcomed the convening of Riyadh Conference on 'Saving Yemen and Building the Federal State' under the auspices of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) for Arab States, expressing hope that brothers in Yemen reach an agreement to achieve security and stability of Yemen and the aspirations of its people within the framework of adherence to legitimacy and stopping the coup against the legitimate Yemeni government, praising what has been expressed by President Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi and participants in Riyadh Conference of appreciation to the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabian as government and people, to brothers in GCC States and Coalition for all what they have made in all stages and different circumstances. The Cabinet denounced the violation of Houthi militias of the humanitarian truce, through their repeated attacks on Kingdom's borders and inside Yemen since the truce came into force on last Tuesday, to thwart the truce and impede the relief efforts for the Yemeni people, commending the full commitment of coalition's leadership to the humanitarian truce and self-restraint, taking into account the noble goals of the operation of Renewal of Hope for Yemen to alleviate the suffering of the brotherly Yemeni people. In this context, the Minister of Culture and Information said the Cabinet extended congratulations to the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques on what he enjoys of appreciation from various Islamic, Arab and international circles, commending, in this regard, the Medal of First-Class awarded to him by Arab Parliament for his courageous and humanitarian positions toward developments in the Arab region in general and the Republic of Yemen in particular. The Cabinet stressed the speech of the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques , during the meeting, and his confirmation of the Kingdom's support for those who seek to unite the ranks of Muslims and Arabs; and emanating from its great responsibility towards its Islamic religion and Arabism and what enjoys of security and stability, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia looks forward to seeing all regions of the world dominated by peace, security and stability and their peoples enjoy a better life. Second: The Cabinet authorized the President of the Saudi Commission for Tourism and Antiquities - or his deputy - to discuss a draft memorandum of understanding for cooperation in the field of tourism between the Commission in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and the Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities in the Kingdom of the Federation of Malaysia, and to sign it, before submitting the final signed version to complete the legal procedures. Third: The Cabinet authorized the Minister of Foreign Affairs - or his deputy - to discuss a draft memorandum of understanding regarding the political consultations between the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Nicaragua, and to sign it, before submitting the final signed version to complete the legal procedures. Fourth: The Cabinet authorized the Minister of Transport - or his deputy - to discuss with the Maltese side a draft cooperation agreement between the Government of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and the Government of the Republic of Malta in the field of maritime transport and to sign it before submitting the final signed version to complete the legal procedures. After reviewing the report of the Ministry of Communications and Information Technology and Majlis Al-Shura resolution No. (44/25) dated 10/06/1436 H., the Cabinet decided to approve the amendment of Article (24) of the electronic transactions system, issued by the Royal Decree No. (M / 18) dated 03/08/1428 H authorizing the competent court to include in its ruling a text to publish a summary of the ruling at the expense of the convicted person in a local paper issued in his place of residence, or in the nearest neighborhood if there is no local paper in his place of residence, or in a way which the Court deems appropriate, depending on the type of the committed crime, its gravity, and impact, provided that the publication should be after the ruling gets its final status. A royal decree has been prepared in this regard. Sixthly: The Cabinet approved a number of appointments to posts of ambassador, minister plenipotentiary and rank 14, as the following: 1-Appointing Mansour Bin Saleh Bin Mohammed Bin Shalhoub to a post of ambassador at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. 2- Appointing Jamal bin Abdullah bin Saad Alfuwairis to a post of Director General of Administrative and Financial Affairs (rank 14) at the Ministry of Interior, 3-Appointing Engineer. Mohammed bin Ridha bin Hassan Hazazi to a post of Minister Plenipotentiary at Ministry of Foreign Affairs. 4-Appointing Saleh bin Abdullah bin Saleh Alqadhi to a post of Mayor of Khamis Mushait Governorate at the Ministry of Municipal and Rural Affairs. The Cabinet also reviewed the annual report of General Presidency for Scholar Research and Ifta for the fiscal year (1434/1435), and issued its directives in this regard.
