The Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz chaired the cabinet's weekly session at Alsalam Palace in Jeddah on Monday. At the outset of the meeting, the King briefed the cabinet on the contacts and consultations which he held over the previous days with a number of heads of states and their envoys. The talks dealt with the developments of events in the region and the world. The King pointed out that the Kingdom has been exploiting all its potentials in the service of the Two Holy Mosques, pilgrims, Umrah ( Minor Pilgrimage) performers and visitors of the Prophet's Mosque. The King noted that the expansion of Masa'a (Running Track) at the Grand Mosque, completion of storeys at Jamarat (Devil Stoning) Bridge and the general development of Makkah, Madinah and the holy places come within the context of praise and thanks to Allah for bestowing the service of the holy places on the Kingdom and its people. In a statement to Saudi Press Agency (SPA) following the session, the Minister of Culture and Information Iyad bin Amin Madani said that in this context, the cabinet stressed that serving the issues of the Muslim nation and enhancing its security, stability, development and unification of its ranks have been among the priorities of the Kingdom's foreign policy. On the Arab Affairs, the cabinet affirmed that the ability of Arab nations to confront local, regional and international challenges necessitates the enhancement of joint Arab action institutions and commitment to resolutions and agreements endorsed by Arab summits. It also emphasized that conviction in the Arab interests demands the unification of efforts rather than dispersing them, and regional alliances should be utilized to unite Arab ranks rather than utilizing them to serve division and weakness. --More
