The Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz Al Saud chaired the Cabinet's session at Al-Salam palace in Jeddah this evening. At the outset of the meeting, the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques expressed thanks to Allah Almighty for the spiritual atmospheres he bestowed upon the Kingdom's people and the help He offers for the success of their efforts to provide qualitative services to visitors and Umrah performers at the two holy mosques, appealing to Allah to continue granting this country the grace of stability and security and to remove the sufferings of some Muslim peoples who incur the repercussions of wars, turmoil and crises. In a briefing following the meeting, Dr. Abdulaziz bin Mohieddin Khoja, Minister of Culture and Information, said the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques briefed the Council of Ministers on the contents of messages he sent to leaders of Islamic countries to attend the emergency Islamic Solidarity summit to be held in Makkah on 26-27 Ramadan, appealing to Allah to guide Muslims to adhere to Sharia law and the Prophet's Sunnah (sayings and deeds) and lead them to success. Dr. Khoja said the Cabinet then reviewed a number of reports on the developments in the region and the world at large, including the situation in Syria. In this regard, the Cabinet welcomed the United Nations General Assembly's adoption of an Arab-sponsored resolution on Syria, confirming that the decision reflects the feelings of the world community regarding the sufferings of the Syrian people, necessitating quick and decisive work towards the political process that would pave the way for meeting the aspirations of the Syrian people, alleviating their grievances and ending the crisis as soon as possible. The Council of Ministers also condemned the daily ethnic cleansing campaign, brutal acts and flagrant violations of human rights against the people of Rohingya in Myanmar aiming at coercing them to leave their homeland, calling on the world community to shoulder its responsibilities to provide the necessary protection for Muslims in Myanmar and to evade the fall of more victims. Dr. Khoja said that the Cabinet have discussed a host of local issues and expressed appreciation on the issuance of the royal order to disburse financial aid worth SR 1,360,696,500 to all families subscribed in the Social Security Act for the disabled, over aged, widows, the divorced, orphans, forsaken and those with missing bread earners, in order to stand by the needy families to afford Ramadan necessities, a gesture that embodies the monarch's continuous keenness to provide citizens in general, and the needy in particular. The Cabinet authorized the Crown Prince, Deputy Premier and Minister of Defense- or his deputy- to discuss with the Finnish side regarding a memorandum of understanding between the Ministry of Defense of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and the Ministry of Defense of the Republic of Finland on cooperation in the defense field, sign it and forward the final version for further legal procedures. The Cabinet approved a cooperation agreement between the Government of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and the Government of the Republic of Iraq in the field of extraditing those convicted of freedom depriving penalties signed in Riyadh on March 18, 2012. The Cabinet approved amending article (first) of the Cabinet's decision No. 58 dated 7/3/1433 H. by omitting paragraph 4 relating to the representation of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in the Board of Saudi Wild Life Authority. The Cabinet approved licensing for China Bank for Industry and Commerce to open a branch in the Kingdom and authorized the Minister of Finance to decide on any other request, later on, to open other branches for the bank in the Kingdom, provided that the bank abide by doing its banking business according to the Banks Monitoring System, Act of Companies, Foreign Investment Act and other acts, regulations and directives applicable in the Kingdom. In this regard, the Saudi Arabian Monetary Agency was instructed to coordinate with the bank to complete necessary producers. The Cabinet decided to re-form the Patents Committee, an affiliate of King Abdulaziz City for Science and Technology which will be mandated for three years as follows: 1- Counselor Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al-Ajlan, as President 2- Legal Expert Mutlag bin Abdullah Al-Hanaki, as member 3- Dr. Abdulrahman bin Mohammed Al-Obeid, member 4- Dr. Abdullah bin Saud Al-Bishr, member 5- Dr. Ibrahim bin Zaid Al Mueddi, member The Cabinet approved the following transfer and appointments: 1- Jidaie bin Zibn bin Mahrout Al-Hazzal appointed to the post of Ambassador at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs 2- Faisal bin Abdulaziz bin Mohammed Al-Nassar transferred to the post of the Undersecretary of the General President for Sports Affairs (Rank 15) from the post of Counselor for Youth Welfare and Development at the General Presidency of Youth Welfare. 3- Abdulhadi bin Mohammed bin Ahmed bin Salem appointed to the post of Counselor for Youth Welfare and Development at the General Presidency of Youth Welfare (Rank 15). 4- Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Mohammed Al-Shawi appointed to the post of Director General (Rank 15) of the branch of Control and Investigation Bureau, in the Eastern Region. 5- Abdulaziz bin Hamud bin Fahd Al-Zaid appointed to the post of Minister Plenipotentiary at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. 6- Taleb bin Abdulkarim bin Ahmed Al-Ghanmi appointed to the post of the Assistant Undersecretary for Revenues Affairs (Rank 14) at the Ministry of Finance.
