“Saudi Arabia has become a platform for international scientific and cultural activities,” it said.
The Cabinet was referring to the king’s inauguration of the National Heritage and Culture Festival in Janadriya, his establishing two international awards for heritage and culture and the announcement of the winners of the King Abdullah International Prize for Translation.
King Abdullah, who presided over the weekly Cabinet meeting, briefed the ministers on the outcome of his talks with Bahrain’s King Hamad bin Isa Al-Khalifa and other foreign dignitaries including French Culture Minister Frederic Mitterrand.
Crown Prince Sultan, deputy premier and minister of defense and aviation, briefed the Cabinet on his recent inspection tour of armed forces stationed in the border region of Jazan and commended the Saudi soldiers for their efforts to repel the rebel Yemeni intruders.
Second Deputy Premier and Minister of Interior Prince Naif spoke about the success of a meeting of Arab interior ministers in Tunis. During the meeting, Saudi Arabia presented a draft proposal for Arab intellectual security strategy. “The Cabinet emphasized the importance of the intellectual security strategy to achieve comprehensive security,” said Culture and Information Minister Abdul Aziz Khoja.
The Cabinet said such a strategy was essential to protect the Arab people from deviant and destructive thoughts and ideas.
Referring to the continuing Israeli atrocities against the Palestinians in the occupied territories, the Cabinet urged the international community to take a firm stand against these Israeli excesses and provocative actions. The Cabinet warned that the Israeli actions would destroy the prospects for establishing peace and stability in the Middle East.
The Cabinet endorsed an agreement with Switzerland for cooperation in air transport. It authorized Prince Naif to hold talks with officials concerned in order to sign the Arab agreement for combating organized crimes across borders and another Arab agreement to combat corruption.
The meeting authorized Finance Minister Ibrahim Al-Assaf to sign an agreement with Ireland to avoid double taxation and prevent tax evasion. Al-Assaf was directed to sign a similar accord with Ukraine. Another agreement will be signed with Ukraine for cooperation in research and the peaceful use of outer space. The Cabinet approved the rules and regulations of the King Abdullah International Arabic Language Center.
The meeting appointed Farid Abdul Ghani Al-Maliki ambassador; Saud bin Muhammad Al-Sati and Nabil bin Hussein Ashri ministers plenipotentiary at the Foreign Ministry, and Saad bin Manawir Al-Hojaili administrative and financial director at the Health Ministry.
