King Abdullah chairs Cabinet session (4/30/12)
April 30, 2012
The Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz chaired the Cabinet session at Al-Yamamah Palace in Riyadh today. He began with a briefing on his contacts over the past week with foreign leaders, including receptions he held for Qatari Heir Apparent Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thani and Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk; telephone calls he received from Spanish King Juan Carlos and Commander-in-Chief of the Supreme Council of the Egyptian Armed Forces Field Marshal Hussein Tantawi; and messages he received from Moroccan King Mohammed VI and Peruvian President Ollanta Humala.The Cabinet reviewed a number of reports regarding developments in the Arab world and their repercussions, focusing especially on events in Syria. The Council insisted that the international community should not allow Syrian authorities to evade their obligation and called for a stronger reaction in the face of the deaths of so many Syrians.
Turning to the domestic arena, the Cabinet lauded UNESCO’s awarding of its prestigious Gold Medal to King Abdullah in recognition of his efforts in enhancing the culture of dialogue and peace. It also expressed appreciation to the King for inaugurating a new phase of the University City Cities Project. Finally, the ministers welcomed the convening of the GCC Youths Conference, which was organized by the Diplomatic Studies Institute in Riyadh under the theme “GCC Member Countries: From the State of Cooperation to the State of Union” as a follow-up to the initiative launched by King Abdullah at the 32nd GCC Summit.
Addressing its remaining agenda items, the Cabinet approved the Arab Agreement on Combating Money Laundering and Terror Financing; approved the Arab Convention for the Fight against Organized Crime across National Borders; approved an agreement establishing the King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz Global Center for Dialogue among Followers of Religions and Cultures signed in Vienna on 10/13/11; and approved the formation of the Board of Directors of Agricultural Development Fund for a period of three years.
The Cabinet approved the appointments of Abdulrahman Al-Mufarj as Director General of the Saudi Building Code at the Ministry of Municipal and Rural Affairs; Ali Al-Ghamdi as Director General of the Legal Department at the Ministry of Municipal and Rural Affairs; Hattab Al-Anzi as Labor Consultant at the Ministry of Labor; and Abdulrahman Al-Sadhan as Director General of the Office of the Grand Mufti at the General Presidency of Scholarly Research and Fatwa. All the appointments were made at the 14th rank.
