The Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Salman Bin Abdulaziz, chaired the Council of Minister’s weekly meeting at Al-Safa Palace in Makkah this evening. At the beginning of the meeting, King Salman expressed his gratefulness to God Almighty for the influx of visitors to the holy cities of Makkah and Madinah to perform Umrah during the blessed month of Ramadan. King Salman also expressed his gratitude for the services rendered to the visitors and for the various projects being undertaken around the clock to expand of the two holy mosques and other related projects.

King Salman also requested from all governmental and local authorities to double all efforts during the holy month of Ramadan to well serve all pilgrims and visitors, by improving the services and infrastructure of all the holy sites.

Following the meeting, Minister of Culture and Information Dr. Adel Al-Toraifi said that the Council of Ministers was briefed on the message sent by King Salman to King Abdullah II bin Al-Hussein of Jordan and the latest regional and international developments.

The Cabinet welcomed the statement issued by the emergency meeting of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) Ministers of Interior held July 2 in Kuwait in which the ministers confirmation that the safety and security of GCC peoples are an integral part of the GCC’s mission. The Cabinet also re-emphasized the Kingdom's condemnation of the terrorist attacks on military checkpoints in Egypt's North Sinai July 1 in which dozens of people were killed, including civilians. The Cabinet expressed the Kingdom's condolences to the families of the deceased and victims, and the government and people of Egypt and wishing the injured a speedy recovery.

The Council also reviewed a number of topics on local affairs and thanked the King for disbursing more than one billion and eight hundred million Saudi Riyals for the social insurance beneficiaries, outside of Zakat finances, as aid during the holy month of Ramadan.

The Council also offered its condolences to the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques, the Crown Prince, the Deputy Crown Prince and the royal family on the death of Prince Abdullah bin Abdulaziz bin Musaed bin Jelawi Al Saud, the Governor of Northern Border Region and to his brothers and sons, praying to Allah Almighty to bestow His mercy upon the deceased soul.