Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Salman bin Abdulaziz chaired the weekly Cabinet at Al-Yamamah Palace today. At the outset, King Salman briefed the Cabinet on his meeting with Afghan President Dr. Ashraf Ghani Ahmadzai, the content of letters he received from Kuwait's Emir Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah and Indonesia's President Joko Widodo.

The Cabinet was then briefed by Crown Prince Muqrin bin Abdulaziz on the outcome of the Egypt Economic Development Conference held earlier in the week in Sharm el-Sheikh. The Cabinet reiterated the Kingdom's keenness on the stability and prosperity of Egypt, on promoting the Kingdom's relations with Egypt, and the safety and security of the people of Egypt. The Cabinet stressed that the gains of Egypt are an integral part of the gains of the Arab and Islamic nations

The Cabinet rejected the offensive remarks by Swedish Foreign Minister Margot Wallstrom as blatant interference in the Kingdom’s internal affairs and criticism of the Islamic judicial system. The Cabinet reaffirmed that ensuring independence of the country’s judiciary as an immutable principle and a main basis for protecting and promoting human rights and emphasized that it accepts no offenses against the judicial system or social and cultural patterns simply because of their difference from the common patterns in other countries.

Islam's principles, which are followed by 1.5 billion Muslims around the globe, are nonnegotiable. The international community should respect the choices of the Muslim people and the ways they choose to develop. Politicians should not involve Muslim governments and affairs for local political purposes.

The Cabinet welcomed the final statements of 143th Session for Arab Foreign Ministers in Cairo as well as 32nd Session of Arab Ministers of Interior in Algiers, and 134th Session of the Ministerial Council of the GCC in Riyadh and the decisions that will enhance Arab joint action as well as combat challenges threatening the Arab national security.