Crown Prince Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, Deputy Premier and Minister of Defense, chaired the Cabinet session at Al-Salam Palace in Jeddah on Monday evening. At the outset of the session, the Cabinet extended appreciation of and thanks to Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz Al Saud for his keenness and efforts in the service of Islam and Muslims, making performing Umrah rituals and visiting the Holy Mosque comfortable journey during the holy fasting month of Ramadan. The Cabinet stressed that the monarch's orders of benefitting ground, first, first mezzanine, second and second mezzanine floors of the expansion and northern, western, southern and eastern external terminals of the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz Project of Expansion of the Holy Mosque in Makkah and the relevant elements which accommodate more than 625,000 worshippers in addition to his order to take advantage of nave area for the first and second phases of Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz Project of expansion to raise the capacity of Mataf (circumambulation around the Kaaba area). The Cabinet stressed that these orders came within the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques' keenness and efforts to provide a comfortable atmosphere for the visitors of the Two Holy Mosques and secure the necessary services for them. In a statement to the Saudi Press Agency (SPA) following the session, Dr. Abdulaziz bin Mohieddin Khoja, Minister of Culture and Information, said that the Cabinet strongly denounced the vicious attack targeting the security men at Al-Wadi'ah border port by a group of terrorists with a deviant thought. The Cabinet considered this assault as treacherous attack carried out by a deviant group that does not respect the greatness and sanctity of this holy month, expressing deepest condolence to the martyrs' families, asking Allah Almighty to bestow mercy on their souls and wishing a speedy recovery for the injured. Dr. Khoja added that the Cabinet extended thanks to and appreciation of Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz Al Saud for his order to provide $500 million dollars as a humanitarian assistance to the brotherly Iraqi people affected by traumatic events, including displaced people regardless of their religion, sect or ethnicity. After reviewing a number of reports on the latest developments at Arab, regional and international arenas, the Cabinet renewed the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia's firm stance towards the various events and its keenness that security and stability prevail in all countries of the world. On the domestic affairs, the Cabinet thanked the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques regarding issuance of his order to pay SR1,395,655,500 for the beneficiaries of social security, stressing that this humanitarian gesture reflects the King's keenness and support for the social affairs and security sector. The Cabinet said that the order issued by the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques to establish specialized courts for implementation in a number of cities in the Kingdom to raise implementation circus of the public courts to the degree of specialized courts comes within the framework of supporting the judiciary in order to serve the justice's facility and accelerate its action mechanism within framework of the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques Project to develop the judiciary. Dr. Abdulaziz bin Mohiddin Khoja said that the Cabinet then reviewed a number of issues forwarded to it by the Shura Council, also reviewed the recommendations submitted by the Experts Commission, an affiliate of the Council of Ministers, the General Committee of the Cabinet and its subcommittee and issued the following decisions: The Cabinet approved licensing a stock company to be named 'the Headquarters Company for Development' at the municipality of Al-Madinah Al-Munawarah according to its statute which states, among others, that the company promotes developmental programs for remote and under-developed areas in the city and other areas which require further development according to the urban priority. The company capital amounts to SR1.98 billion. The Cabinet authorized the minister of interior or his deputy to discuss with the Belarusian side a draft arrangement between the government of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and the government of Belarus for cooperation in the field of combating crime, sign it and forward the final version to the highest authority for final endorsement.
