Crown Prince Abdullah bin Abdulaziz, the Deputy Premier and Commander of the National Guard, chaired the Cabinet's weekly session at Al-Yamamah palace in Riyadh on Monday.
At the outset of the session, the Crown Prince briefed the Cabinet on his talks during his recent visits to the Republic of France and the United States of America and their positive outcomes in terms of enhancing bilateral relations and strengthening strategic, political, economic, cultural and educational ties between the Kingdom and the two countries.
He also informed the Cabinet of the results of the two visits in the interest of the Arab world and Islamic countries. The Crown Prince commended the warm reception, sincerity of feelings and depth of understanding shown by the leaderships and officials of the United States of America and France along with the atmosphere of frankness, clarity and transparency that prevailed during the meetings and talks.
The Crown Prince also briefed the Cabinet on his visits to Morocco, Egypt, Syria and Jordan during which he clarified the Kingdom's positions on developments in the region and the world, the Kingdom's support for and defense of Arab and Islamic issues and its support for security, stability in the region so that peoples in the region and the world enjoy security, peace and rapprochement.
In a statement to the Saudi Press Agency (SPA) following the session, Iyad bin Amin Madani, the Minister of Culture and Information, said that the Crown Prince conveyed the greetings and appreciation of the leaders of these countries to the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Fahd bin Abdulaziz and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia for its remarkable role and efforts in enhancing security and stability in the region and its continual efforts to extend bridges of cooperation with various countries in this regard.
The Minister of Culture and Information noted that Prince Sultan bin Abdulaziz, the Second Deputy Premier, Minister of Defense and Aviation and Inspector General, informed the Cabinet of his inspection tour of Hail Region and the developmental projects achieved there. Prince Sultan stressed that the tour came within the framework of the care for and attention paid by the government under the leadership of the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Fahd bin Abdulaziz and the Crown Prince to the Kingdom's regions and its support for developmental projects, based on an understanding of the needs of citizens in various regions.
The Minister pointed out that the Cabinet reviewed the start of the Arab-South American Summit in Brazil and emphasized its importance, and noted the high priority the Kingdom accords its relations with friendly countries in Latin America, and the appreciation the Kingdom has for the stand of Brazil's President in this regard.
Then the Cabinet was briefed on reports about the development of the situations in the Middle East, particularly the escalation of the situation in Iraq and continual daily killing of the innocent. The Cabinet affirmed that the continual acts of killing and violence in Iraq will prevent the Iraqi people from achieving their aspirations of security and stability.
On the recent explosion in Junieh, Lebanon, the Cabinet condemned the act, emphasizing that such acts are contrary to the efforts pursued to support Lebanon's stability.
Again, the Cabinet stressed the Kingdom's keenness on Egypt's security and stability and the Kingdom's stand by the people of Egypt in confronting the acts of violence and terrorism.
The Minister of Culture and Information said the Cabinet then reviewed the local items on its agenda and issued the following decisions:
The Cabinet ratified the framework agreement for economic cooperation between the GCC member states on one hand and India on the other. The agreement was previously approved by the Gulf Cooperation Council's 24th summit held in Kuwait. The agreement aims at encouraging economic cooperation between the two parties, expanding and liberating trade ties and concluding free trade zone agreement.
The Cabinet approved a memorandum of understanding between the Government of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and the Government of the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan in the field of Islamic affairs and endowments aiming at cooperation in organizing mosques, training Islamic callers and preachers and exchanging experience in the field of the organization of mosques and endowments.
The Minister of Culture and Information or his deputy was authorized to discuss with the Azerbaijani side a draft arrangement for news exchange between the Saudi Press Agency (SPA) and the Azerbaijani News Agency aiming at using the means available for news exchanges in addition to the expertise in the field of information and technology. The Minister or his deputy was also authorized to sign the arrangement and forward it for further authentication.
The Cabinet approved the agreement on Suppression of Unlawful Acts Against the Safety of Maritime Navigation and the protocol on Suppression of Unlawful Acts Against the Safety of Maritime Navigation and fixed platforms based along the continental shelf. The agreement and the protocol aim at the protection of maritime navigation utilities in ports and on vessels visiting them as well as the maritime fixed platforms within the framework of the international law. However, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia has reservation regarding Article 11 and Paragraph 1 of Article 16 of the agreement.
