The Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz chaired the Cabinet session at Al-Salam Palace in Jeddah today. At the outset, the Cabinet lauded the comprehensive development and achievements accomplished by Saudi Arabia during the past six years under the leadership of King Abdullah. Furthermore, it hailed the King’s pioneering role to serve Muslim and Arab causes at the international level and to support humanitarian efforts.

King Abdullah then briefed the Cabinet on the consultations he had with foreign leaders last week, including a message he received from Omani Sultan Qaboos bin Said and a telephone call with Qatari Emir Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa Al-Thani.

After listening to a number of reports on the latest regional and international developments, the Cabinet hailed the declaration issued by the Ministerial Meeting of the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) held in Indonesia to address the Palestinian cause, as well as the statement issued by the Ministerial Committee of the Arab Peace Initiative held in Doha. The Cabinet stressed the importance of concerted efforts to push forward the peace process based on legitimate international resolutions in such a way that ensures the rights of the Palestinian people to self-determination and the establishment of an independent state with Al-Quds [Jerusalem] as its capital.

On the domestic front, the Cabinet reviewed the scientific, cultural and economic activities that took place over the past week in the Kingdom, including the 2nd International Forum and Exhibition of the Environment and Sustainable Development of the Gulf and the Prince Nayef bin Abdulaziz International Contest for the Prophet’s Sunnah and Contemporary Islamic Studies.

After reviewing a number of items on its agenda, the Cabinet approved a cooperation agreement on fighting terrorism, organized crime and illicit trafficking in narcotics and psychotropic substances with Uzbekistan; authorized the Minister of Finance to sign a draft agreement on customs cooperation with Morocco; approved an agreement on the multimodal transport of goods between Arab countries; approved the addition of a new article to the Law of Real Estate Ownership and Investment by Non-Saudis, issued by Royal Decree No. (M/15); and approved a memorandum of understanding for cooperation in the field of information technology and services between the King Abdulaziz City for Sciences and Technology (KACST) and the Advanced Computer Systems Development Center of the Indian Ministry of Information Technology.

The Cabinet approved the appointments of Saleh Al-Sharyan as Director General of Finance and Budget of the Royal Saudi Air Force at the Ministry of Defense and Aviation (15th rank); Ali Al-Bakri as Planning Expert at the Ministry of Economy and Planning (15th rank); and Yusuf bin Ali Abu Aish and Turki Al-Madhi as Ministers Plenipotentiary at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.