Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques Chairs Cabinet's Session

Jeddah, September 15, SPA -- Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King
Abdullah bin Abdulaziz Al Saud chaired at Al-Salam palace in Jeddah
tonight the cabinet's weekly session.

At the outset of the meeting, the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques
briefed the Cabinet on all contacts and consultations which took
place last week with some leaders of countries and international
organizations or their envoys on bilateral relations, regional
affairs and international issues. The monarch expressed hope that the
days and nights of this holy month of Ramadan turn to be days and
nights of blessing and good and urged every Muslim to do good,
evaluate himself and repent from evil deeds and that this month turns
to become an inlet for the Arab world and Islamic nation to face the
external challenges ahead, including the lack of current
understanding of Islam in its capacity as the last and comprehensive
mission for all mankind.

In a statement to the Saudi Press Agency (SPA) following the meeting,
Minister of Culture and Information Iyad bin Ameen Madani confirmed
that Islam as a faith and a legal way of living is the Kingdom's base
in running its internal and external affairs. He said the Kingdom is
permanently seeking to consolidate the basic values of Islam,
including justice, equality, solidarity, tolerance, the right of
human being in fair living and responsible liberty and the right of
people to practice differences within the limits permitted by Islamic
Sharia law which should be non-detrimental to different parties.

The Minister added that the Council then reviewed the economic
situation and, in this regard, lauded the Kingdom's ranking as the
world's 16th out of 181, according to a report issued by the
International Finance Foundation, an affiliate of the World Bank, on
business environment and investment competitiveness.
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