Riyadh-The Saudi Cabinet renewed on Monday the Kingdom’s stance, taken at the emergency meeting of the Executive Committee of Foreign Ministers of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), that the massacres committed in Syria’s Aleppo are “a war crime against humanity.”
The Cabinet recalled the Kingdom’s welcoming of U.N. Security Council (UNSC) resolution 2328 on the deployment of international observers in Aleppo to supervise the evacuation of civilians.
It expressed the Kingdom’s support for the Syrian people in the face of genocide carried out by the Syrian regime throughout the country.
This came during the Cabinet’s session, which was held on Monday at al-Yamamah Palace in Riyadh under the chairmanship of King Salman.
The Cabinet expressed appreciation for the King’s order to organize a Kingdom-wide fundraising campaign to provide humanitarian assistance to the Syrian people.
It praised the King’s directive to allocate SR100 million ($26.7 million) for the campaign, his donation of SR20 million ($5.3 million), Crown Prince Mohammed bin Nayef’s donation of SR10 million ($2.7 million) and Deputy Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman’s donation of SR8 million ($2.1 million).
The Cabinet said the donations embodied the keenness of the Saudi leadership to alleviate the suffering of the Syrian people, especially those displaced from Aleppo and other areas.
In a different matter, the Cabinet congratulated King Salman on the second anniversary of his accession to the throne and achievements made during the past two years in various fields, including the Kingdom’s international status.
The Cabinet noted the general budget for the fiscal year 2017, for its sufficient strength to cope with economic and financial challenges.
It also praised the government’s prudent fiscal policies and its determination to move forward to enhance elements of the national economy via Vision 2030.
The Cabinet said the Saudi leadership sought through the budget to improve the efficiency of capital and operational expenditures and strengthen public finances.
Moreover, it assessed the outcomes of the meeting of oil ministers of the Organization of Arab Petroleum-Exporting Countries (OAPEC) at its 97th session in Cairo and the cooperation and commitment among OAPEC member states to apply the agreement on production cuts reached in November.
The Cabinet assigned the General Authority of Statistics to implement a general census of the population and houses in 2020 and start preparations from 2017.