RIYADH: Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah yesterday called for additional precautionary measures to protect citizens and residents from swine flu.
The king made the call while presiding over the weekly meeting of the Council of Ministers at Al-Yamamah Palace.
The Cabinet heard a report from Health Minister Dr. Abdullah Al-Rabeeah about the swine flu virus that has affected many countries.
Al-Rabeeah briefed the Cabinet on his ministry’s plan to hold a conference of Gulf states on swine flu on Saturday with the participation of experts from the World Health Organization (WHO). The meeting will discuss precautions to be taken against the disease. He also spoke about an emergency meeting of GCC health ministers that was held in Qatar last Saturday to discuss the flu outbreak.
The Arab health ministers’ executive office will meet in Riyadh today to discuss the latest developments concerning the disease.
“The Cabinet welcomed the forthcoming participation of GCC leaders at a half-yearly consultative meeting in Riyadh,” Culture and Information Minister Abdul Aziz Khoja told the Saudi Press Agency. The Cabinet hoped that the Riyadh meeting would further strengthen the Gulf Cooperation Council.
The Cabinet discussed King Abdullah’s inspection tour of the Eastern Province and his launch of several development projects in Jubail Industrial City. “The launch reflected the strength of the Saudi economy and its ability to deal with global crises,” it said.
The Cabinet reconstituted the Military Service Council, which will be chaired by the prime minister. The deputy premier and minister of defense and aviation will be the council’s deputy chairman. Its members are: the second deputy premier and minister of interior; deputy commander of the National Guard; the foreign minister; the chief of intelligence; the secretary-general of the National Security Council; the finance minister; and three other members to be appointed by the king.
King Abdullah earlier briefed the ministers on the content of messages he had received from Libyan leader Muammar Qaddafi, Kuwaiti Emir Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmed Al-Sabah; Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh and UAE President Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al-Nahyan as well as on the outcome of his meeting with Australian Foreign Minister Stephen Smith, and US envoy Dennis Ross.
Khoja said the Cabinet approved a plan to increase Saudi Arabia’s share in the capital of Islamic Development Bank (IDB) by an additional 23,649 shares, each valued at 10,000 Islamic dinars.
The Cabinet also approved the Kingdom’s accreditation to the International Convention on Oil Pollution Preparedness, Response and Cooperation, 1990. It OK’d the Saudi Railway Organization’s final accounts for 2007.
The Cabinet endorsed the appointments of Osama bin Ahmed Naqli as ambassador; Mujahed bin Ali Wahbi as minister plenipotentiary at the Foreign Ministry; Prince Abdul Rahman bin Mohammed Al-Muqrin as assistant chairman of the Experts’ Committee at the Cabinet; Fahd bin Mohammed Al-Eissa as legal expert at the committee; Talal bin Abdul Majeed Yousuf as director general of private education at the Ministry of Higher Education; and Abdullah bin Mohammed Al-Basees as director of the president’s office at the Court of Grievances.
