Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques chairs Cabinet's Session

Riyadh, March 09, SPA -- 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.


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