Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz Al Saud chaired at Al-Salam palace in Jeddah tonight the cabinet's weekly session. At the outset of the meeting, the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques briefed the Cabinet on all contacts and consultations which took place last week with some leaders of countries and international organizations or their envoys on bilateral relations, regional affairs and international issues. The monarch expressed hope that the days and nights of this holy month of Ramadan turn to be days and nights of blessing and good and urged every Muslim to do good, evaluate himself and repent from evil deeds and that this month turns to become an inlet for the Arab world and Islamic nation to face the external challenges ahead, including the lack of current understanding of Islam in its capacity as the last and comprehensive mission for all mankind. In a statement to the Saudi Press Agency (SPA) following the meeting, Minister of Culture and Information Iyad bin Ameen Madani confirmed that Islam as a faith and a legal way of living is the Kingdom's base in running its internal and external affairs. He said the Kingdom is permanently seeking to consolidate the basic values of Islam, including justice, equality, solidarity, tolerance, the right of human being in fair living and responsible liberty and the right of people to practice differences within the limits permitted by Islamic Sharia law which should be non-detrimental to different parties. The Minister added that the Council then reviewed the economic situation and, in this regard, lauded the Kingdom's ranking as the world's 16th out of 181, according to a report issued by the International Finance Foundation, an affiliate of the World Bank, on business environment and investment competitiveness. --More
