The committee, which met 18 times, made a proposal containing 12 articles that outlined the social, cultural, environmental and religious impact on Saudi men marrying non-Saudi women and Saudi women marrying non–Saudis.

The proposal allows Saudi men and women to marry nationals from the Gulf countries since they belong to the same religion and are supported with identical cultures.

Shoura Council Secretary-General Muhammed Al-Ghamdi said that realizing the consequence of such marriages, the council would also seek advice and assistance from government and nongovernmental organizations in finalizing the final draft of the marriage law. The members said that family is the nucleus of society and a stable and secure family would contribute to the development of society according to Islamic law.

The council approved the amended draft convention for Arab cooperation in facilitating relief operations.

The decision was taken with a majority of votes at a session held under the chairmanship of Abdullah Al-Asheikh on Monday. The proposal was presented by the Committee on Health Affairs and Environment of the council.

Al-Ghamdi said the draft convention, which contains 17 articles, was aimed at coordinating relief efforts among Arab countries in times of natural calamity and emergencies. Al Ghamdi said the agreement lay within the framework of the close brotherly ties between the Arab countries in various fields, particularly in the supply of relief aid.

The agreement would streamline and simplify procedures and coordinate the relief operations by commissioning air and land transport to ferry relief aid to friendly Arab countries, which are signatories to the convention.

According to Al-Ghamdi, the convention would respect the sovereignty of the member states while carrying out relief work in affected states.