JEDDAH, 25 October 2005 — The Council of Ministers yesterday abrogated the General Organization of Petroleum and Minerals (Petromin) and merged its properties with Saudi Aramco.
The Cabinet meeting, chaired by Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah, also approved the documents related to Saudi Arabia's accession to the World Trade Organization and authorized the Commerce and Industry Minister Dr. Hashem Yamani to sign them.
King Abdullah called upon authorities to mobilize all the resources to increase the welfare and comfort of the thousands of pilgrims who have come from within and outside the Kingdom.
The meeting reviewed the progress of the nationwide campaign to collect funds for the quake victims in Pakistan and commended Saudis for responding generously. The campaign will continue until the end of Ramadan.
The Cabinet approved the rules and regulations related to extending assistance to victims of natural disasters. According to the new law, families of the dead will receive SR80,000. The amount would be doubled for those families, which had orphaned children who are below the age of puberty. Those suffering permanent injuries would be given SR120,000 each.
The Cabinet assigned Petroleum and Mineral Resources Minister Ali Al-Naimi to oversee the procedures for the transfer of Petromin's properties to Saudi Aramco.
Meanwhile, King Abdullah yesterday received a group of Islamic preachers from Africa and said Islam would remain unscathed despite the smear campaigns against the religion.
"Unfortunately, Islam's reputation has been tarnished as a result of the work of some its followers, who were misled by Satan," the king told the preachers representing 29 African countries.
King Abdullah said Saudi Arabia would continue its campaign against Al-Qaeda militants to root out terrorism from the country. The reception was attended by Prince Bandar ibn Salman ibn Muhammad, adviser to the king and chairman of the committee for dawa in Africa.
The preachers had come to Makkah to take part in a forum titled "Relations Between Preachers And Rulers" organized by the committee. Dr. Ibrahim Abu Obat, a member of the committee, thanked the Saudi government for giving them an opportunity to visit Riyadh, Makkah and Madinah and meet with Saudi scholars.
