Taif, July 21: Saudi Arabia on Monday denounced terror attacks that killed nine people and wounded more than 50 in Jakarta on Friday. “The Council of Ministers expressed its condemnation of the wicked terrorist blasts that targeted two hotels in the Indonesian capital, Jakarta, and stressed the significance of solidarity with the international stand against terror and terrorists,” Culture and Information Minister Abdul Aziz Khojah said in a statement following the weekly meeting.
Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah chaired the council meeting held at the Hawiyah Palace in Taif, Khoja said in a statement to the Saudi Press Agency.
The council approved the implementation of the unified law for combating human trafficking in Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries, which was adopted at a meeting of the Supreme Council of GCC in its 27th session in Riyadh in December 2006.
The Cabinet authorized Second Deputy Premier and Interior Minister Prince Naif to discuss and sign an agreement with Russia for collaboration in the fight against illegal trade and smuggling of narcotic drugs and stimulants.
King Abdullah briefed the council on the meetings and discussions he had had with a number of world leaders including King Hamad bin Isa Al-Khalifa of Bahrain, Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak, US Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner and Director General of the UN Food and Agricultural Organization Jack Diouf.
The council was also briefed on the report of the recently concluded summit of the Non-Aligned Movement in Sharm El-Sheikh that made a special mention of the Palestinian issue and the need for coordination and cooperation among member countries of the movement.
The council commended the king’s visit to Madinah and Yanbu where he opened a number of developmental projects last week. During his visit to Madinah, the king opened new projects that included the installation of 182 sunshades in the courtyard of the Prophet’s Mosque.
The council approved the appointment of several government officials, including Khaled bin Muhammad Al-Isa as consultant civil engineer at the Interior Ministry and Muhammad bin Yaqub Al-Farih as the deputy director general for the National Center for Computers at the General Survey Department.
—Aegncies