Riyadh - SPA

The Kingdom’s Council of Ministers has reiterated its condemnation of the Houthi coup in
Yemen and called for a peaceful resolution of the political impasse based on the GCC
initiative and the Yemeni national dialogue.

At its weekly meeting at Al-Yamamah Palace on Monday, chaired by Custodian of the Two
Holy Mosques King Salman, the Cabinet said every effort must be made to ensure Yemen’s
security and regional stability.

Adel Al-Toraifi, minister of culture and information, in a statement to the Saudi Press
Agency, said the Cabinet praised the efforts of the GCC ministerial council, for its
resolutions on the Yemeni issue.

The meeting also condemned the ISIS for executing 21 Egyptians in Libya, and expressed
condolences to President Abdel Fattah El-Sissi and the families of the victims, said
Al-Toraifi.

King Salman briefed the council on the visits of Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Sabah, emir of
Kuwait, Prince Charles, heir to the British throne, and a message received from
President Abdelaziz Bouteflika, president of Algeria.

Al-Toraifi said King Salman also briefed the ministers on his telephone conversation
with King Philip VI of Spain.

The Cabinet welcomed the UN Security Council's resolution adopted last Thursday that
sought to cut off the sources of terrorist financing. It stressed the the crucial role  
Saudi Arabia is playing in fighting of terrorism, said Al-Toraifi.

A security cooperation deal with Spain signed in Jeddah last year, is duly ratified by
the cabinet. Under the deal, the two sides would fight all forms of crimes that involve
support or/and financing of terror operations and smuggling.

Local affairs were discussed including upcoming events such as the Saudi Conference of
Emergency Medicine, and the 26th World Conference on Heart Disease, designed to improve
health services in the country.

The Cabinet approved the Saudi Food and Drug Authority’s membership of the National
Tobacco Control Committee, which was approved by the Council of Ministers in 2007.

The Cabinet decided to replace the word “military forces” with the term “armed forces”
in all its legislation and official government communications.

Appointments

The Council of Ministers also approved several new appointments including Abdulaziz bin
Saleh Al-Firaih as a member of the Saudi Stock Exchange Market (Tadawul) board, to
represent the Saudi Arabian Monetary Agency.

Another new appointment was that of Abdullah bin Salih bin Abdullah Al-Awwad as
ambassador at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Those appointed to plenipotentiary posts
at the foreign ministry were Abdullah bin Mudhif bin Daifallah Al-Talhim, Ali bin
Abdullah bin Omar Ba-Haitham, Mansour bin Awwad bin Mohamed Al-Khiraishi and Abdullah
bin Mohamed bin Nasir bin Rashidan.

Mohamed bin Abdullah bin Abdulkarim was appointed adviser at the Ministry of Water and
Electricity and Talq bin Faihan bin Batta Al-Ataibi in the position of administration and
finance director at the Ministry of Interior.