NEOM — Saudi Arabia's Cabinet on Tuesday reiterated the Kingdom's strong condemnation and denunciation of the terrorist attack that took place in a Paris suburb on Friday, resulting in the death of a French citizen. The Cabinet expressed Saudi Arabia's solidarity with France, affirming its rejection of all acts of terrorism, extremism, and violence irrespective of their forms or justifications. The Cabinet also called for paying respect to religious figures and refraining from stirring up hate. During a virtual session chaired by Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Salman, the Cabinet referred to the G20 Interfaith Forum under the Saudi presidency in which around 500 prominent global figures from 45 countries participated. The Cabinet underscored the importance of confronting hate speech and spreading the values of tolerance and cooperation and rejecting violence and racism in various human societies. It also stressed the necessity of combining efforts of governmental and national religious institutions and international organizations to confront the discourse of extremism, racism as well as the phenomenon of Islamophobia, while promoting the values of moderation and tolerance. The Cabinet reviewed the results of the inaugural Saudi-US Strategic Dialogue, which sought to strengthen the partnership and cooperation between the two friendly countries in a number of areas, including combating extremism and terrorism, and confronting Iran's destabilizing and threatening attitude in the Middle East and disrupting global trade. The Cabinet reiterated the Kingdom's endeavor, through its presidency of the G20, to cooperate with member states, including the United States, to achieve success in the G20 Leaders' Summit, which will be held virtually in November. At the outset of the session, King Salman briefed the Cabinet on the message he received from Kuwait's Emir Sheikh Nawaf Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah. The Cabinet praised the issuance of the royal order restructuring the Shoura Council, wishing the members of the council all success in performing their duties. The Cabinet hailed the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques' speech at the end of the virtual Youth engagement group (Y20) Summit. In a statement to Saudi Press Agency (SPA), Acting Minister of Media Majid Al-Qasabi stated that the Cabinet referred to the final communiqué of the G20 finance ministers and central banks governors meeting that pointed out some signs of recovery as economies have been gradually reopening due to the coronavirus epidemic. Dr. Majid Al-Qasabi indicated that the Cabinet has followed up the start of the second phase of the gradual resumption of Umrah and prayers within Al-Rawdah Al-Sharifah (the area between Prophet Muhammad's grave and his pulpit) for citizens and expatriates from inside the Kingdom. The Cabinet reviewed the latest reports and developments regarding the COVID-19 pandemic at the local and international levels, lauding the Kingdom's contributions toward clinical research and studies on the virus. In this regard, official reports indicate that Saudi Arabia ranked 25th globally, second in the Middle East, and first in the Arab world in issuing scientific papers related to the virus.
