Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud chaired the Cabinet's session at Al-Salam Palace in Jeddah on Monday evening. At the outset of the Cabinet session, the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques praised Allah Almighty for the advent of the holy month of Ramadan, and for bestowing the blessings, status and glory upon the Kingdom, renewing his congratulations to Kingdom's citizens, residents and Arab and Islamic nations on the advent of the holy month of Ramadan. The Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques expressed his thanks and appreciation for the leaders and heads of delegations of Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) for Arab States for their efforts during their 16th consultative meeting, pointing out that the decisions that have been taken during that meeting will have a positive impact on the GCC countries and overcome various obstacles in the march of the GCC integration, and praising what the GCC member states have witnessed of development, prosperity and cooperation that made it a source of stability and security in the region. Afterwards, the King briefed the Cabinet on the results of his meetings with the Prime Minister of the Republic of Bangladesh and Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation of the Republic of Italy Paolo Gentiloni. In a statement to Saudi Press Agency following the session, Minister of Culture and Information Dr. Adel bin Zaid Al-Toraifi explained that the Cabinet expressed its congratulations to the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques, the Crown Prince and the Deputy Crown Prince on the advent of the holy month of Ramadan, stressing the contents of the speech of the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques addressed on the occasion of the holy month, his emphasis on the need of the Islamic nation to translate the objectives of this great month into sincere worship to Allah Almighty, and the keenness of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia since its foundation by King Abdulaziz on making the unity of the Islamic nation and seeking always for unifying Arab and Muslim ranks as its objective, and it will remain keen to achieve this noble goal, noting that the Islam is a religion of mercy, compassion, love and moderation and calls for peace, justice and the renunciation of violence and extremism. The Cabinet confirmed that the King's directives to take advantage of the completed sites of the expansion building, northern, western and southern open yards and parts of eastern yards of the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques project for the expansion of the Grand Holy Mosque and elements associated with them, in addition to his directives to take advantage of all floors with their five levels to raise Mataf's (circumambulation) capacity come as an extension to his keenness and blessed efforts in serving Islam and Muslims, facilitating the performance of Umrah and prayers by the visitors of the House of Allah in the holy month of Ramadan and creating the appropriate atmosphere for them. --More
