Monday's weekly Cabinet meeting voiced the Kingdom's condemnation of Israeli police action against worshippers at Al-Aqsa Mosque. Chaired by King Abdullah, Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques, the Cabinet said that Israeli encroachment on Islamic sites reflected the “daily atrocities to which the helpless Palestinian people are subjected to” and warned against the Israeli stance which goes against “all the Divine's revelations and international legal resolutions and will have a direct and dangerous impact on world security and stability”. The international community should assume its responsibility vis-a-vis the attacks on the holy sites, the Cabinet said, and intervene to protect the Palestinian people from Israeli attacks. Yousef Bin Ahmad Al-Othaimeen, the Minister of Social Affairs and Acting Minister of Culture and Information, said the Cabinet also condemned the terrorist attacks on government headquarters in Baghdad Sunday and offered condolences to families of the victims. “The Kingdom maintains its stance rejecting terrorism regardless of the source,” Al-Othaimeen said. In domestic affairs, Al-Othaimeen said the Cabinet was briefed on the situation in schools concerning the swine flu virus and declared their satisfaction that all possible protection was being provided to pupils. All relevant bodies were urged to continue with awareness programs and maintain precautionary and preventive measures. Al-Othaimeen said that King Abdullah briefed the Cabinet on the previous week's meetings and consultations, including the two telephone calls he received from Sudanese President Omar Hasan Al-Bashir and Afghani President Hamid Karzai, as well as his meeting with former US president Jimmy Carter and Prince Philippe, Heir Apparent of Belgium. The Cabinet, Al-Othaimeen said, authorized the Minister of Finance to sign a draft agreement between the Kingdom and the government of Romania to tackle dual taxation and tax evasion, and approved the organizational structure of the National Center for Alternative and Complementary Medicine which sets rules for the practice of alternative and complementary medicine and develop its principles, especially in Islamic and Arab medicine. Al-Othaimeen added that the Cabinet further authorized the president of Meteorology and Environmental Protection to discuss a draft memorandum of understanding on cooperation in meteorology between the Saudi and Qatari governments.
