Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Salman bin Abdulaziz chaired the meeting of Council of Ministers this evening at the Safa Palace in Makkah.

King Salman began the session by requesting redoubling efforts to provide more comfort and security to the worshippers during the blessed month of Ramadan.  The Council hailed the great efforts by the security services as well as the launching of a number of new development projects at a total cost estimated at more than $1 billion.

The Cabinet hailed the preventive efforts carried out by the security authorities to thwarting many attempts at smuggling drugs into the country as well as the speedy arrest of the perpetrators of Daesh followers, who are far from the true Islamic religion.

The Cabinet was briefed on the visit of Deputy Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman bin Abdulaziz, the Second Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of defense to the United States and his meeting in the United States, including his meeting with President Barack Obama

The Cabinet appreciated the remarks by UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon during his meeting with the Deputy Crown Prince and in which the UN Secretary General lauded the Kingdom's assistance provided to the displaced Syrians and the developing countries and praised the leadership role played by Kingdom in the region and the world and its strong support for the UN and its agencies since its founding.

The Cabinet also looked forward to the results of the visit by the Deputy Crown Prince to France and his meetings with President Francois Hollande and a number of French officials which will discuss the issues and topics of common interest and the cooperation between the two friendly countries.

The Council of Ministers expressed the Kingdom’s strong condemnation of the terrorist attack in Jordan and Somalia, and the criminal bombings in Al-Qaa, Lebanese.  The Cabinet offered its sincere condolences to said countries, reiterating the Kingdom's firm positions against terrorism in all its forms.

The Cabinet concluded its session after discussing a number of domestic topics including the approval of a number of appointments of senior officials.