The Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz chaired the Cabinet session at Al-Yamamah palace in Riyadh today. First, he briefed the ministers on the consultation he made with foreign officials over the past few days, including meetings with Bahraini King Hamad bin Isa Al-Khalifa; South Korean President Lee Myung-bak; and Commander of U.S. Central Command Gen. James Mattis.

Then, the Cabinet expressed its appreciation for King Abdullah’s support of cultural, scientific and educational activities, citing the launching of the 27th National Festival for Heritage and Culture in Janadriyah. It praised the speech King Abdullah delivered to the guests of the festival, in which he stated that the world’s faith in the United Nations has been shaken as a result of its failure to take decisive action regarding Syria. The Cabinet also noted the awarding of the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques International Prize for Translation and the King’s decision to increase the funding allotted for translation entities.

After reviewing reports on developments in the Arab world, the ministers welcomed the statement issued by the Arab Foreign Ministers Council yesterday, in which new solutions were proposed to solve the Syrian crisis. They stressed the importance of taking action to end the massacres in Syria and welcomed the upcoming Syrian Friends Conference. The Cabinet also praised the Doha Declaration signed between Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and Chairman of the Political Bureau of Hamas Khalid Mishaal, expressing hope that the positive step will lead to successful Palestinian reconciliation.

Addressing its remaining agenda items, the Cabinet approved a proposal to expand the duties of the Standing Committee for Implementation of Mutual Legal Assistance Applications; added the Minister of Culture and Information and a representative of the Saudi Commission for Tourism and Antiquities (SCTA) to the board of directors of the King Abdulaziz Foundation; appointed Dr. Abdullah Al-Qadhi, Amer Al-Dlijan, and Dr. Faisal Al-Tamimi to the National Committee for Geographic Information Systems for three years; authorized the President General of Youth Welfare to sign a draft cooperation agreement in the field of youth and sports between the Saudi General Presidency of Youth Welfare and the Albanian Ministry of Tourism, Culture, Youth and Sports;.and authorized the Governor of the General Investment Authority to sign a draft agreement with Vietnam on encouraging reciprocal protection of investments.

The Cabinet appointed Jamal Nasif as Minister Plenipotentiary at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs; Fahd Al-Mansoori as Minister Plenipotentiary at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs; Majed Al-Majed as Director General of Finance and Administration Affairs at the Ministry of Water and Electricity (14th rank); Omran Al-Omran as Deputy Director General of Water in Riyadh Region for Finance and Administration Affairs (rank 14) at the General Directorate of Water in Riyadh; and Abdullah Al-Aqeel as Director General of Companies at the Ministry of Commerce and Industry (14th rank).