On Monday Crown Prince Abdullah bin Abdul Aziz, the Deputy Premier and Commander of the National Guard chaired the Cabinet's weekly session at Al-Salam Palace in Jeddah.
At the outset of the session, the Crown Prince briefed the Cabinet on the contents of talks, meetings, contacts and consultations on the latest developments in the region and the world held in the previous days with a number of leaders and officials of some brotherly and friendly countries.
The Crown Prince briefed the Cabinet on the results of talks held by the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Fahd bin Abdul Aziz and the Crown Prince with President Omar Hassan Al-Basheer of the Sudan. These talks dealt with relations between the two brotherly countries.
He also briefed the Cabinet on the talks with Palestine's Premier Ahmed Qurie that focused on the latest developments in the occupied Palestinian territories. The situation in the territories has become volatile as a result of Israel's aggressive practices and persistent escalation against the unarmed Palestinian people and Israel's obvious determination to abort any attempt to achieve progress in the pursuit of peace.
In a statement to the Saudi Press Agency following the session, the Minister of Culture and Information Dr. Fouad bin Abdulsalam Al-Farsy said that the Crown Prince emphasized that it is important that the international community should take a firm stand in confronting Israeli intransigence, in enforcing the implementation of United Nations’ resolutions and international law relating to the peace process. [Only then will it be possible for] the Palestinian people to set up their independent state on their own land with Al-Quds as its capital; [only then will it be possible for] the Palestinian people to enjoy their legitimate rights including the return of refugees to their land arbitrarily usurped by Israel's violence.
The Cabinet emphasized the importance of the Crown Prince's recent speech during his audience with princes, ministers, senior officials, a group of citizens and a number of university professors. The speech embodies the firm stand of the Kingdom's government and people against terrorist criminal actions perpetrated by those who have devoted themselves to the service of Satan and the enemy of Islam and who are stripped of all principles and values. The Cabinet reaffirmed the Crown Prince's statement that the Kingdom will strike with an iron fist against anyone who tries to destabilize its security and will continue fighting terrorism until it is uprooted.
The Minister of Culture and Information said the Cabinet then reviewed the local items on its agenda and took the following decisions:
The Cabinet approved the United Nations Convention against Transnational
Organized Crime.
The Cabinet decided to transfer the occupied and vacant jobs at the dissolved
Secretariat General of the Workforce Council as well as their financial appropriations to a new department at the Ministry of Labor to be called the Ministry of Labor's Agency for Planning and Development. The position of Secretary General of the Workforce Council will be named the Undersecretary of the Ministry of Labor for Planning and Development. Dr. Abdulwahed bin Khalid Alhomaid was appointed to fill the portfolio.
A free-of-charge substitute visa will be granted to a Saudi citizen as compensation for the lost charges he paid for an entry visa for a chauffeur or housemaid who later failed to pass a job probation period and consequently was deported, the Cabinet decided.
Non-Saudi disabled persons and their companions should be granted 50 percent discounts on the fares on government-run land, sea and air means of transportation, the Cabinet stated.
The Cabinet approved a sample of contract for the operation, cleaning and maintenance of public roads. The contract denies the contractor the right to partly or fully subcontract the job to a third party before obtaining a written approval of the bidder. According to the contract sample, no contractor is allowed to conclude sub-contracts to implement any of the contracted businesses or parts of them without previous written approval of the concerned authority. For certain works, only Saudis could be hired, according to the contract.
The Council of Ministers approved the following appointments at the National
Guard:
Eng. Abdullah bin Ibrahim bin Salih Almutaw'a as Undersecretary for Technical Affairs; Hamad bin Abdullah bin Abdulrahman Altuwaijri as Director General for General Stores; Dr. Abdulrahman bin Abdulkareem bin Hamad Alyahya as Advisor for Bedouin Affairs; and Ibrahim bin Abdulaziz bin Abdullah Alowaimer as Director General of Financial Affairs.
Source: SPA
