The Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz Al Saud chaired the Cabinet session held at Al-Salam Palace here today. At the outset of the session, the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques briefed the Cabinet on the talks he held with President Asif Ali Zardari of Pakistan, praising the depth of relations between the two countries as well as their keenness on enhancing these relations in a way that serves the two brotherly peoples and the Islamic nation. The King also briefed the Cabinet on the message he received from King Mohammed VI of Morocco. In a statement to Saudi Press Agency (SPA) following the session, the Minister of Culture and Information Dr. Abdulaziz bin Mohieddin Khoja said that the Cabinet reviewed a number of reports on the latest developments and their repercussions in a number of Arab countries in addition to the developments at international arena. The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia expressed anxiety and grief over the continuation of civilian casualties -women and children- as a result of incidents taking place in some Arab countries, calling upon all parties concerned to resort to wisdom, dialogue and reform and to protect the rights and dignity of Arab people. The Cabinet expressed the Kingdom's sorrow over the very bad security and living conditions suffered by the people of Somalia, which resulted in the death of thousands, mostly children, as well as the displacement of hundreds of thousands of Somalis in search of food and water. The Cabinet urged the international community to rapidly intervene and work together to stop this humanitarian crisis which was exacerbated by the civil wars and drought gripping the Horn of Africa. The Cabinet also urged all warring Somalis to discard differences and immediately cease combat operations in order to open roads for humanitarian assistance to save the Somali people. The Cabinet appreciated the order issued by the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques allocating $ 50 million for buying Somali refugees food to be provided through the World Food Program, in addition to allocating $ 10 million for providing drugs and vaccines in coordination between the Ministry of Health and the World Health Organization. The King also ordered the provision of quantities of dates for the Somali refugees in coordination between the Ministry of Finance and the Ministry of Agriculture. --More
