Jeddah, SPA :

 The Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud chaired the Cabinet s session at Al-Salam Palace in Jeddah on Monday afternoon.

At the outset of the session, the King welcomed Prince Mohammed bin Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud on the occasion of his selection as Crown Prince, appointment as Deputy Premier, and continuing as Minister of Defense and other missions assigned to him, wishing him all success. The King also expressed his thanks and appreciation to Prince Mohammed bin Naif bin Abdulaziz Al Saud for his blessed efforts exerted in the service of the religion and the homeland.

The King welcomed Prince Abdulaziz bin Saud bin Naif bin Abdulaziz, Minister of Interior, wishing him, princes, ministers and officials appointed to their new posts all success.

The King expressed his thanks and praise to Allah Almighty so that Muslims completed fasting the holy month of Ramadan and millions of Umrah performers performed Umrah rituals during the holy month, praising Allah Almighty for culminating the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia s efforts with full success in the service of the Two Holy Mosques and their visitors and exploiting all capabilities and efforts for their comfort and performance of rituals in secure and comfortable atmospheres. The King also thanked all government and private sectors for their efforts to enable the guests of the Two Holy Mosques of Umrah performers and visitors to perform their rituals easily and comfortably.

The King briefed the Cabinet on the telephone calls made during the past few days with a number of leaders of sisterly and friendly countries on bilateral relations and latest developments in the region and the world.

Minister of State, Cabinet s Member and Acting Minister of Culture and Information Dr. Essam bin Saad bin Saeed said in a statement to the Saudi Press Agency following the session that the members of the Cabinet congratulated Prince Mohammed bin Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud on the occasion of his selection as Crown Prince and appointment as Deputy Premier, wishing him all success, praying to Allah Almighty to preserve the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques and the Crown Prince for the service of Islam and Muslims.

The Cabinet valued the King's invitation to hold a Saudi-African summit in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia at the end of this year 2017 or beginning of next year 2018, as the invitation was conveyed by the Minister of Foreign Affairs Adel bin Ahmed Al-Jubeir to President of 29th ordinary African Summit held in the Republic of Ethiopia.

The Cabinet also appreciated the welcome of leaders of the G20 summit countries for the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia's hosting G20 Summit in 2020, in implementation of the directives of the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques, and the work started from now to organize the summit with following up by Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman bin Abdulaziz, Deputy Premier, Minister of Defense and President of the Council for Economic Affairs and Development.

In this context, the Cabinet expressed its thanks for the appreciation made by the participants in G20 Hamburg summit of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia's efforts in combating terrorism, reiterating that the fight against terrorism and extremism as well as the promotion of the values of moderation are an international responsibility requiring effective cooperation and coordination among States as terrorism has no religion and it is a crime targeting the whole world and does not differentiate between religions and races, expressing thanks and appreciation to the Federal Republic of Germany, represented by Chancellor Angela Merkel for the good organization and management of the activities of the G20 leaders' summit.

The Minister said that the Cabinet commended the King's approval to adopt that public health to be a policy and priority in all laws and regulations for disease control and prevention, reflecting the keenness of the leadership and its concern over the health of citizens and the provision of medical care for them in addition to the unlimited support for the health sector to make optimal use of the improvement

of health services and raising the efficiency of performance in health facilities.

The Cabinet also expressed thanks and appreciation to the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques for directing King Salman Center for Relief and Humanitarian Aid to respond urgently to fight and contain the cholera epidemic in Yemen and to Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, Deputy Premier and Minister of Defense for directing King Salman Center to provide $ 66.7 million as a response from the Crown Prince to the World Health Organization (WHO)'s appeal and The United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF)'s call to fight cholera epidemic, and support for water and environmental sanitation in Yemen to get rid of the epidemic's causes.

The Cabinet praised the security forces for thwarting an imminent terrorist act on the 28th of the holy month of Ramadan to target the Grand Holy Mosque in Makkah and its visitors of Umrah performers and worshippers by a terrorist group stationed in three locations and the arrest of five members of the terrorist group, expressing strong denunciation of this terrorist plot which has violated all sanctities to target the holiest place on the earth, also condemning the terrorist attacks by explosive projectiles that targeted security patrols in Qatif Governorate which resulted in martyring two security men and injuring others. The Cabinet stressed that security authorities in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia are capable of confronting these criminal plans, eliminating their perpetrators, will deal strongly with all those who infringe on the stability of the homeland and the security of its citizens and hold accountable anyone who tries to tamper with the Kingdom's safety and stability.

The Cabinet reviewed the joint statement issued by the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, the Kingdom of Bahrain and the Arab Republic of Egypt after receiving the Qatari reply from Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah, Emir of Kuwait, renewing its thanks and appreciation to the Kuwaiti Emir for his endeavors and efforts to resolve the crisis with the Qatari government within the framework of his keenness on the unity of Gulf and Arab ranks, emphasizing the contents of the statement and that the people of Qatar are an essential part of the Gulf and Arab system, and that the measures taken by the four countries are directed at the Qatari government to correct its track seeking to break up the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) for Arab States' system, Arab and international security, destabilize the countries in the region and intervene in their affairs.

The Cabinet expressed the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia's strong condemnation of the terrorist bombings that took place in northern Sinai in the Arab Republic of Egypt and the terrorist attack on a camp for displaced people in Anbar province in Iraq, expressing its condolences to Egyptian and Iraqi governments, peoples and families of the victims, wishing a speedy recovery for the injured, reconfirming the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia's solidarity and stand with the Republics of Egypt and Iraq and its firm positions against terrorism and extremism.

Dr. Essam bin Saad bin Saeed said that the Cabinet reviewed topics on its agenda, including issues mutually discussed by Majlis Al-Shura, and concluded the following:

First:

The Cabinet authorized the Minister of Environment, Water and Agriculture, or his deputy, to discuss with the Djiboutian side a draft memorandum of understanding in the field of the environment between the Government of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and the Government of the Republic of Djibouti.

Second:

The Cabinet approved a cooperation agreement in the field of maritime transport between the Government of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and the Government of the Republic of Malta, which was signed in Riyadh on 23/09/1437H.

Sixth:

The Cabinet authorized the Minister of Culture and Information, who is also Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Saudi Press Agency, or his deputy, to discuss and sign with the Bangladeshi side a draft memorandum of understanding for cooperation and exchange of news between the Saudi Press Agency and the Bangladesh News Agency.

Seventh:

The Cabinet approved an amendment to Article (4) of the Civil Aviation Tariff System issued by Royal Decree No. (M/55) dated 20/10/1426H.

Eighth:

The Cabinet approved an amendment to Paragraph (1) of Article (4) of King Faisal Specialist Hospital and Research Center Regulation issued by Cabinet Resolution No. (265) dated 30/10/1422H.

Ninth:

The Cabinet approved a number of arrangements to establish an industrial city in the Eastern Region to be named "Industrial Energy City".

Tenth: The Cabinet approved the final account of the Electricity and Co-Generation Regulatory Authority for the fiscal year (1436H/1437H).

Eleventh: The Cabinet approved a number of promotions as follows:

1- Turki bin Mohammed bin Abdullah Al-Madhi promoted to the post of Ambassador at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

2- Mohammed bin Abdullah bin Saleh Al-Busaily promoted to the post of Director General of Financial Affairs (Rank 14) at the Air Forces of the Ministry of Defense.

3- Abdulaziz bin Ibrahim bin Abdulrahman Al-Nasser promoted to the post of Director General of Financial Affairs (Rank 14) at the Land Forces of the Ministry of Defense.

4- Eng. Talal bin Abdulrahman bin Ali Sulaihem promoted to the post of Mechanical Engineering Consultant (Rank 14) at the Naval Forces of the Ministry of Defense.

5- Nayel bin Ahmed bin Mohammed Al-Jubeir; Nabeel bin Abdulrahman bin Saeed Najjar; and Munir bin Siraj bin Abdullah Al-Fay promoted to the post of Minister Plenipotentiary at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

6- Yousef bin Abdulhadi bin Abdulwahab Al-Mansouri promoted to the post of Assistant Director General of Makkah Region Branch of Control and Investigation Board (Rank 14) at the Control and Investigation Board.

The Cabinet also reviewed a number of issues on its agenda and took appropriate decisions in their regard.