Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz Al Saud chaired today at Al Yamamah Palace in Riyadh the Cabinet's session. At the outset, the Cabinet lauded the valuable contents of the statements of the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques at his reception of the Grand Mufti of the Kingdom, the Head of the Supreme Judicial Council, the scholars and Judges, and as he received guests of the National Guard who are attending the National Festival of Heritage and Culture (al-Jenadaryiah), the Riyadh International Book Fair, and the Saudi-French Forum for Dialogue of Civilizations. The Cabinet emphasized the valuable advices embedded in the Kings speeches which call for God fearing, serving the Islamic faith, adhering to God's laws, promotion of Good doing, shunning evil, and commitment to righteousness. In his statement to the Saudi Press Agency (SPA) following the session, Minister of Culture and Information Dr. Abdulaziz bin Moheiaddin Khoja pointed out that the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques informed the Cabinet of the contents of communications and consultations he held over the past week with brotherly and friendly State leaders and envoys, the replying correspondence he had received from President Mohammad Hosni Mubarak, and the letter he received from the President of Russian Federation. The Minister of Culture and Information noted that the council, at the directives of the King, listened to a report on the latest events of the region and the world, especially developments in Lebanon where the council emphasized the Kingdom's stand by the brothers in Lebanon to achieve further enhancement of stability, peace, and national unity, and support for every effort seeking its unity, augmentation of its strength, sovereignty, and independence. In this context, the council commended the resolutions issued by the 131 Session of the Arab League Council of Arab Foreign Ministers, resolutions that covered the political, economical and security issues of the Arab Nation. The Cabinet also noted the meeting of the Foreign Ministers of Arab and South America countries to set forth a declaration to be adopted by the two parties in the coming second joint summit hosted by Qatar on 31 March. The Kingdom looks forward to more support from countries of South America for Arab issues, topped by the Palestinian Cause and the establishment of an independent Palestinian State with Al-Quds as its capital. On another front, the Minister of Culture and Information said the Cabinet expressed concern and displeasure over the International Criminal Court decision to arrest President Omar Hasan Al-Bashir of the Sudan, for this decision, rather than solving the problems of the Sudan, will only lead to increasing them. The Cabinet affirmed the Kingdom's stand by the Sudan in confronting whatever breaches its sovereignty, stability, and integrity of its territories, calling on all to maintain the joint efforts to face up to the resultant effects of this decision. It also called on the Security Council to shoulder the responsibility of peace keeping and stability in the Sudan. --More
