JEDDAH: The Council of Ministers on Monday called on writers, thinkers, academics and the media to work together to promote a culture of constructive dialogue based on the teachings of Islam.
The Cabinet, chaired by Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah, voiced its hopes that the recently held forum for dialogue trainers would contribute to increasing awareness of the values of dialogue in society.
The Cabinet praised the king for instituting a prize in his name for excellence in sports. A sports club will receive a cash prize of SR1 million for each championship it wins outside the Kingdom, the king said.
The meeting praised the recommendations made by a workshop of international experts that was held in Jeddah last week to combat swine flu. The participants in the workshop commended the precautionary measures taken by the Saudi government to protect foreign pilgrims.
The international experts said the Kingdom’s anti-swine flu measures were comprehensive, well thought-out and up to international standards.
The Cabinet urged all countries to instruct their Haj and Umrah pilgrims to follow the experts’ recommendations, improve their health awareness and make sure they have vaccinations against the virus before coming to the Kingdom.
Culture and Information Minister Abdul Aziz Khoja said the Cabinet authorized Foreign Minister Prince Saud Al-Faisal or his deputy to hold talks with the UN High Commissioner for Refugees and sign a protocol for strengthening bilateral cooperation.
Khoja said the Cabinet assigned Prince Sultan bin Fahd, chief of the Youth Welfare Presidency, or his deputy to sign an agreement with China for cooperation in sports. Finance Minister Ibrahim Al-Assaf or his deputy have been authorized to sign an agreement with Tunisia for the avoidance of double taxation and the prevention of tax evasion.
The Cabinet approved the final accounts of the National Commission for Wildlife Conservation and Development for the year 2007. It also approved the final accounts of the General Organization for King Fahd Causeway for 2006 and 2007.
The Cabinet appointed Muhammad bin Abdul Rahman Al-Hoqail director of the minister’s office at the Ministry of Interior; Eqab bin Saqr Al-Luwaihek security adviser at the Makkah governorate; Ahmed bin Ali Al-Wadi director of administrative and financial affairs at Border Guards; and Ghassan bin Adnan Kutbi IT consultant at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
In a related development, the Shoura Council yesterday discussed the National Executive Plan for Traffic Safety, which aims at reducing the number of road accidents. Abdullah Al-Ghamdi, secretary-general of the consultative body, said the Shoura had heard the views of the security affairs committee on observations made by members in previous sessions.
The plan aims at reducing human and material losses caused by road accidents, activating traffic regulations in order to make the roads safer, coping with the country’s social and economic developments, ensuring the presence of modern roads all over the Kingdom and monitoring and evaluating the performance of traffic safety agencies.
