The Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques, King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz Al Saud chaired the Cabinet session held at Al-Yamamah Palace here today. At the outset of the session, the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques briefed the Cabinet on the talks, contacts and consultations that took place during the past few days with a number of leaders of brotherly and friendly countries and their envoys on regional and international developments as well as means of enhancing cooperation in various fields. The King briefed the Cabinet on the message he received from King Mohammed VI of Morocco as well as the two telephone calls he received from King Juan Carlos of Spain and Field Marshal Hussein Tantawi, Commander-in-Chief of the Supreme Council of the Egyptian Armed Forces. The Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques also briefed the Cabinet on the receptions he held for Heir Apparent Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani of Qatar and Prime Minister Donald Tusk of Poland, in addition to the message he received from President Ollanta Humala of Peru. The King valued the depth of relations between the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and these countries, stressing the keenness of all on the development of these relations in a way that serves mutual interests and global security and stability. In a statement to the Saudi Press Agency (SPA) following the session, the Minister of Culture and Information Dr. Abdulaziz bin Mohieddin Khoja said the Cabinet reviewed a number of reports about the developments of events and their repercussions in a number of Arab countries, including the situation in Syria. The Cabinet underscored the decisions of the extraordinary meeting of Arab League Council at the level of Foreign Ministers in this regard, and called upon the international community not to allow the Syrian authorities to evade their obligations, and urged the international community to have a reaction more than just giving time limits at the expense of the lives of Syrian people. The Minister said the Cabinet then discussed a number of issues on the domestic arena, lauding the UNESCO's awarding of its golden most prestigious medal to the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques in recognition of his efforts in enhancing the culture of dialogue and peace and his numerous initiatives for convening international conferences and meetings in a number of world capitals and at international organizations. The Cabinet highly appreciated the inauguration of the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques of Phase I of university cities project and the laying of foundation stone of phase II of the project at a cost of SR81.5 billion. The meeting lauded the convening of the GCC youths conference which was organized by the Diplomatic Studies Institute in Riyadh under the theme 'GCC member countries: from the state of cooperation to the state of union' in response to the initiative launched by the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques at his opening speech before the GCC 32nd summit. Dr. Khoja said the Cabinet then continued discussions of its agenda and issued the following decisions: The Cabinet approved the Arab Agreement on Combating Money Laundering and Terror Financing. The Cabinet approved the Arab Convention for the Fight against Organized Crime across National Borders. The Cabinet approved an agreement establishing King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz Global Center for Dialogue among Followers of Religions and Cultures signed in Vienna, Austria, on 13/10/2011. The Cabinet approved the formation of the Board of Directors of Agricultural Development Fund for a period of three years as of the date of decision issuance, as follows: 1- Eng. Abdullah bin Suleiman Al-Rubaiaan, Chairman. 2- Director General of Agricultural Development Fund, Deputy Chairman. 3- Eng. Hassan bin Mohammed Al-Attas (Representative of the Ministry of Finance), Member. 4- Eng. Mohammed bin Abdullah Al-Shiha (Representative of the Ministry of Agriculture), Member. 5- Dr. Mohammed bin Ibrahim Al-Saud (Representative of the Ministry of Water and Electricity), Member. 6- Dr. Ahmed bin Saleh Al-Saleh (Representative of the Saudi Arabian Monetary Agency), Member. 7- Five members with experience and competence; they are: 1- Abdulrahman bin Ali Aqili. 2- Abdullah bin Mohammed Al-Wably. 3- Abdulrahim bin Ahmed Bukhamseen. 4- Abdullah bin Bakr Qadhi. 5- Abdulaziz bin Mohammed Al-Babtain. The Cabinet approved a number of appointments as follows: 1- Eng. Abdulrahman bin Mohammed bin Abdullah Al-Mufarj appointed to the post of Director General of Saudi Building Code (Rank 14) at the Ministry of Municipal and Rural Affairs. 2- Ali bin Othman bin Assaf Al-Ghamdi appointed to the post of Director General of Legal Department (Rank 14) at the Ministry of Municipal and Rural Affairs. 3- Hattab bin Saleh bin Hattab Al-Anzi appointed to the post of Labor Consultant (Rank 14) at the Ministry of Labour. 4- Abdulrahman bin Abdullah bin Abdulrahman Al-Sadhan appointed to the post of Director General of the Office of the Grand Mufti (Rank 14) at the General Presidency of Scholarly Research and Fatwa.
