The Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz chaired the Cabinet's weekly session held here today.
At the beginning of the session, the King was reassured of the services provided for visitors of the Two Holy Mosques.
The King stressed that the Kingdom will continue its efforts to add more projects that serve the visitors of the Two Holy Mosques.
The King called on the Islamic Ummah (nation) in these blessed days of the holy month of Ramadan to cooperate, work for the interest of Islam and Muslims, unify their word, and bolster the values of tolerance, equality, brotherhood and justice which represent Islam and its goals.
In his statement to the Saudi Press Agency following the Cabinet's session, the Minister of Information and Culture Iyad bin Ameen Madani said the Cabinet was briefed on the progress of the popular donations campaign ordered by the King across all regions of the Kingdom, which will continue until the end of the holy month of Ramadan, to help victims of the earthquake which recently hit Pakistan. The Cabinet lauded the great response of the citizens in donating to help their brethren there.
The Cabinet monitored the progress of the relief campaign through the urgent air lift which was ordered by the King and which carried, and is still carrying, various relief supplies to the affected areas. The Cabinet commended the efforts exerted by the concerned authorities to deliver and distribute relief to the needy.
The King briefed the Cabinet on the previous days' meetings, consultations, talks and contacts with some world leaders and which dealt with developments of events at various arenas.
On the developments of the situation in Iraq, the Cabinet expressed hope that the visit to Iraq by Secretary General of the Arab League, Amr Moussa, will achieve its goals of enhancing the unity of Iraq and its Arab and Islamic identity through reconciliation.
The Minister said the Cabinet then reviewed the local items on its agenda and issued the following decisions:
The Cabinet approved the documentations of the Kingdom's accession to the World Trade Organization. It deputized the Minister of Commerce and Industry to sign the documents according to the Cabinet's attached decision.
The Cabinet approved measures taken to help Saudi citizens affected by disasters such as floods, fires, earthquakes, volcanoes, winds, storms, mudslides and other causes.
The money given by the Government should be paid to the affected families as follows: the family of each deceased person family should receive SR80,000, this sum to be doubled for families with young children; SR120,000 to be paid for permanent injuries, and a sum of money paid for partial injuries, depending on the percentage of disability.
The Cabinet decides to dissolve the General Organization for Petroleum and Minerals and to void its system. The Minister of Petroleum and Mineral Resources or his deputy was authorized to complete the measures of transferring the land owned by the Organization to the Saudi Arabian Oil Company ARAMCO.
The Cabinet decided to appoint two retired persons (Major General Mohammed bin Abdullah Al-Madhi and Fuad Mohammed Noor Abu Mansour) as members of the Board of Directors of Retirement General Organization for three-year term.
The Cabinet approved transfer and appointment at the 14th grade in the Ministry of the Interior and the Ministry of Municipal and Rural affairs.
