Palestinian medics reported six airstrikes early yesterday that injured 35 and another two raids around the city of Khan Yunis around 0500 GMT that left two dead and two injured. The killings brought the death toll in Gaza to 20 over three days of violence.
The Saudi Cabinet chaired by Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah also urged the international community to stop Israel’s violation of human rights in occupied Palestinian territories, breaching international charters and regulations.
Culture and Information Minister Abdul Aziz Khoja said the Cabinet extended to three years the measures taken to tackle obstacles facing the contacting sector. These include payment of 10 percent of the value of a government contract (not more than SR50 million) against producing a bank guarantee equivalent to the amount.
In accordance with the Cabinet decision, the government will continue to pay 20 percent of the agreement to construction contractors in advance in lieu of producing a bank guarantee for the same amount. This decision will be effective from this fiscal year.
At the outset of the Cabinet meeting, King Abdullah wished good health to Crown Prince Naif, deputy premier and minister of interior, and prayed for the success of medical tests to be undergone by the crown prince at a US hospital.
The king briefed the ministers on the outcome of his talks with Qatari Emir Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa Al-Thani and Sudan’s President Omar Bashir, underlining the Kingdom’s deep-rooted relations with the two countries.
The Cabinet backed an Arab League decision stressing the need to move “quickly and seriously” to end the bloody war launched by the Bashar Assad regime against the Syrian people. The meeting expressed its deep concern over the worsening situation in Syria.
The meeting referred to major events that took place in the Kingdom last week, including the King Faisal International Prize and Downstream Industries Forum and praised the completion of the first phase of a SR6 billion King Abdullah housing project in Jazan. Keys to 2,000 homes from a total 6,000 will be given to beneficiaries tomorrow.
Speaking about other decisions taken by the Cabinet, Khoja said the meeting entrusted the task of crisis management to the Civil Defense Department and called for reshuffling the Civil Defense Council (CDC) under the chairmanship of the interior minister, inducting senior government officials.
The CDC will approve the missions and responsibilities of government departments and other agencies to execute Civil Defense work, issue bylaws specifying safety conditions to protect human lives and properties and issue bylaws and specifications of shelters.
The Cabinet set up a committee for Civil Defense work under the chairmanship of Prince Muhammad bin Naif, assistant minister of interior for security affairs. It authorized the president of the General Authority for Civil Aviation to sign an agreement with the Transport Security Administration in the US. The Cabinet endorsed an agreement with Morocco on exchange of information related to architectural planning.
The Cabinet meeting appointed Musaed bin Abdullah Al-Firyan director general of consultancy at the Institute of Public Administration, Abdul Rahman bin Muhammad Ahmed Ali director general of financial affairs for armed forces medical services at the Defense Ministry, Hamad bin Muhammad Al-Hajri minister plenipotentiary at the Foreign Ministry, Abdullah bin Muhammad Al-Arfaj deputy mayor of Al-Ahsa for construction and projects and Abdullah bin Saleh Al-Abdussalam assistant deputy minister for support programs at the Ministry of Social Affairs.
