Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Salman bin Abdulaziz briefed the Cabinet on his talks with President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, President of the Republic of Turkey, and his meeting with Prince Salman bin Hamad Al-Khalifa, Crown Prince and the First Deputy Prime Minister of Bahrain, during which they reviewed bilateral relations between the two countries. Chairing the Cabinet's regular weekly meeting here today, King Salman briefed the Council of Ministers on the two calls he made to President Mohammed Abdullah Frmajo on his election as President of the Federal Republic of Somalia, and President Frank-Walter Steinmeier on his election as President of the Republic of Germany. During the call he congratulated them and confirmed the strength of relations between the Kingdom and the two countries. The King expressed the Kingdom's keenness to enhance relations with the two countries in all fields. He also briefed the Cabinet on his meetings with Malaysian Defense Minister Hishammuddin Hussein and World Bank Group President Jim Kim. Minister of Culture and Information Dr. Adel bin Zaid Al-Touraifi, in a statement to Saudi Press Agency after the meeting, said the Cabinet listened to a number of reports on the international efforts being made on the latest developments in the region and the world, and the challenges facing the international community to maintain security and stability,. He praised the Munich Security Conference, the G-20 foreign ministers meeting in Munich and Bonn cities in Germany, as well as efforts currently underway to resume the political negotiations o the Syrian crisis based on Geneva 1 declaration and UN Security Council resolution 2254. The Cabinet condemned the terrorist bombing in Sitra, Bahrain, the attack in a market east of the Somali capital, Mogadishu, and the blast in the Pakistani city of Lahore. The Cabinet reiterated Kingdom's solidarity and support for Bahrain, the Republic of Somalia and the Islamic Republic of Pakistan in the face of these terrorist acts, offering condolences to the families of the victims and wishing a speedy recovery to the injured. The Cabinet appreciated the efforts of the security agencies in thwarting the plans of the terrorist to undermine the Kingdom's security and stability. The Cabinet praised the crackdown on four terrorist cells in each of Makkah, Madinah, Riyadh and Qassim. The Cabinet took note of issues on its agenda and approved the GCC unified selective tax and delegated the Finance Minister to set a date for the application of the tax in the Kingdom.
