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CP Sultan bin Abdulaziz exchanges Eid al-Adha congratulations with leaders of Arab, Muslim world

CP thanks Prince Naif on Interior Ministry efforts to serve pilgrims

Prince Sultan meets UN chief ; receives phone call from US Vice President

UK PM calls for learning from great Islamic traditions

Crown Prince Sultan bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, Deputy Premier, Minister of Defense and Aviation and Inspector General, has sent a number of cables of congratulations on the occasion of the blessed Eid al-Adha.

The cables have been sent to Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice-President of the United Arab Emirates, Prime Minister and Governor of Dubai; Sheikh Salman bin Hamad Al Khalifa, Crown Prince and Deputy Supreme Commander of the Kingdom of Bahrain; Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, Crown Prince of Qatar; and Sheikh Nawaf Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah, Crown Prince of Kuwait.

The Crown Prince expressed his most sincere congratulations on this occasion, wishing them many happy returns and Arab and Islamic nations further progress and prosperity.

Crown Prince Sultan bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, Deputy Premier, Minister of Defense and Aviation and Inspector General, received a telephone call at his residence in New York from Kuwait's Crown Prince Sheikh Nawaf Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah.

During the call, Sheikh Nawaf congratulated Crown Prince Sultan on the advent of the blessed Eid al-Adha.

Crown Prince Sultan thanked Sheikh Nawaf for his noble feelings, praying to Almighty Allah for many happy returns and blessings for Arab and Islamic nations.

They also discussed bilateral relations between the two countries.

Crown Prince Sultan bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, Deputy Premier, Minister of Defense and Aviation and Inspector General, received a telephone call at his residence in New York from Lebanon's Prime Minister Fouad Al-Siniora.

During the call, the Lebanese Prime Minister congratulated the Crown Prince on the advent of the blessed Eid al-Adha.

The Crown Prince thanked the Lebanese Prime Minister for his noble feelings, praying to Almighty Allah for many happy returns and blessings for all.

They also discussed topics of common interest between the two countries.

Crown Prince Sultan bin Abdulaziz , the Deputy Premier, Minister of Defense and Aviation and Inspector General received a telephone call from Egyptian President Mohammed Hosni Mubarak.

During the call , they discussed the bilateral relations between Saudi Arabia and Egypt as well as the latest developments in regional and international arenas.

Crown Prince Sultan bin Abdulaziz , the Deputy Premier, Minister of Defense and Aviation and Inspector General received a telephone call from King Hamad bin Eisa Al-Khalifa of Bahrain, congratulating him on the occasion of Eid Al-Adha.

Crown Prince Sultan bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, Deputy Premier, Minister of Defense and Aviation and Inspector General, received at his guest residence a telephone call from Qatar's Emir Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani.

During the call, the Emir congratulated the Crown Prince on Eid Al-Adha. In turn, the Crown Prince thanked the Emir for his noble feelings. They also discussed bilateral relations between the two countries.

Crown Prince Sultan bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, Deputy Premier and Minister of Defense and Aviation and Inspector General, received at his New York residence, a telephone call from U.S. Vice President Richard Dick Cheney, who congratulated him on the occasion of Eid Al-Adha. During the telephonic conversation, they exchanged views on the friendly bilateral relations between the two countries.

Crown Prince Sultan bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, Deputy Premier, Minister of Defense and Aviation and Inspector General received yesterday at his guest residence, Qatar's Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Sheikh Hamad bin Jassem bin Jabr Al Thani.

During the reception, they exchanged cordial talks on the latest developments on the regional and international arenas. They also reviewed the bilateral relations between the two brotherly countries.

It was attended by Prince Salman Bin Abdulaziz, Governor of Riyadh Region; Prince Khalid bin Fahd bin Khalid; Prince Khalid Bin Sultan Bin Abdulaziz, Assistant Minister of Defense and Aviation for Military Affairs; Prince Khalid bin Saad bin Fahd; Prince Fahd bin Abdullah bin Musaed; Prince Faisal Bin Saud Bin Muhammad, Prince Faisal bin Sultan bin Abdulaziz, Secretary General of the Sultan Bin Abdulaziz Charity Organization; Prince Naif Bin Sultan Bin Abdulaziz; Prince Nawaf bin Sultan bin Abdulaziz; Prince Abdullah Bin Khalid Bin Sultan Bin Abdulaziz; Prince Abdullah Bin Sultan Bin Abdulaziz, Prince Naif bin Salman bin Abdulaziz and a number of high-ranking officials.

Crown Prince Sultan bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, Deputy Premier, Minister of Defense and Aviation and Inspector General received at his guest residence a number of Princes and senior officials who came to congratulate him on the occasion of Eid Al-Adha.

The Crown Prince received also Saudi ambassador to U.S. Adel bin Ahmed al-Jubeir, members of the Saudi embassy staff, Saudi Military Attaché in Washington, Brigadier Ameen Mohammed Shaker and the members of the Saudi permanent delegation to the United Nations, who congratulated the Crown Prince on the occasion of Eid Al-Adha.

The reception was attended by Prince Salman Bin Abdulaziz, Governor of Riyadh Region; Prince Khalid bin Abdullah bin Abdulrahman; Prince Khalid bin Fahd bin Khalid and Prince Khalid Bin Sultan Bin Abdulaziz, Assistant Minister of Defense and Aviation for Military Affairs.

Crown Prince Sultan bin Abdulaziz , The deputy Premier, Minister of Defense and Aviation and Inspector General, received UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon.

At the beginning of the meeting, Ban-Ki Moon lauded the call of The Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz for dialogue among followers of religions and cultures. A conference in this respect was recently held at the United Nations with the participation of a large number of world leaders.

Ki-Moon confirmed that he will follow up the outcome of that conference to realize the desired goal as regards narrowing the gap among the nations.

Meanwhile, they discussed the latest developments at the international arena notably the situation in the Middle East and the efforts of the United Nations as regards the peace process in the region as well as the role of the United Nations in bringing about peace in a number of regions of conflicts in the world.

The meeting was attended by Prince Selman bin Abdulaziz, The Governor of Riyadh Region; Prince Khalid bin Sultan bin Abdulaziz, the Assistant Minister of Defense and Aviation for Military Affairs, as well as other princes and senior officials.

Crown Prince Sultan bin Abdulaziz, the Deputy Premier, Defense and Aviation Minister and Inspector General, has expressed appreciation for the efforts exerted by the interior ministry in the field of medical services. The remakes came in a cable sent by the Crown Prince to Prince Naif bin Abdulaziz, the Interior Minister, after reading the statistical report for 1428 prepared by the general administration for medical services at the interior ministry.

The report included statistics about the patients, the vaccinations, surgical operations and other related topics.

Prince Naif bin Abdulaziz, Minister of Interior, received in Makkah the commanders of Hajj Security Forces who were taking part in the Hajj task force.

Addressing the gathering, Prince Naif thanked God Almighty for gracing this country to provide service for pilgrims, wishing pilgrims of this year's Hajj a safe return home.

He conveyed the greetings of the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz Al Saud to security sectors taking part in this year's Hajj.

He lauded Hajj security forces for having done a good job. The security forces were always successful, not only in Hajj duties but also in defending the entire country at all times and everywhere, he said.

He conveyed thanks of all security forces personnel to the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz Al Saud and their congratulations on the holy Eid Al-Adha and success of this year's Hajj.

The event was attended by Prince Ahmed bin Abdulaziz, Deputy Minister of Interior, Prince Mohammed bin Naif bin Abdulaziz, Assistant Minister of Interior for Security Affairs, Prince Nawaf bin Naif bin Abdulaziz and senior officials.

Prince Khalid Alfaisal, the Governor of Makkah Region and Chairman of the Central Hajj Committee, congratulated the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz, Crown Prince Sultan bin Abdulaziz, Deputy Premier, Minister of Defense and Aviation and Inspector General, and Prince Naif bin Abdulaziz, the Interior Minister and Chairman of the Supreme Hajj Committee, on the success of this year's Hajj.

In a press conference after the conclusion of the season of Hajj, Prince Khalid attributed the success to the grace of God and then to the wise policy adopted by the Saudi government and the precise plan set by the Supreme Hajj Committee.

Prince Khalid congratulated the pilgrims on performing Hajj and thanked all those who worked during Hajj including the media.

Prince Khalid underlined the success of the cultural and media campaign stressing the implementation of the policy of discouraging people to perform Hajj without a permit.

Prince Khalid highlighted the great projects in the kingdom including those in Makkah covering the project of the expansion of the Grand Mosque and other holy sites costing thousands of millions of Saudi Riyals.

Prince Khalid said the recommendations to be submitted by committees formed to detect the advantages and disadvantages of changing policies and strategies of Hajj administration will be studied by Hajj Supreme Committee later. He cited the residential towers and railways in Mina, random distribution of philanthropic meals, pilgrims' ignorance of the ideal way of performing the rituals, domestic pilgrims' entering Hajj area without written permits, unsheltered pilgrims, the cost of Makkah-based pilgrims, the reported higher cost of Hajj for domestic pilgrims, and the capacity of roads leading from Jeddah to Makkah.

Prince Khalid said the space allocated for domestic pilgrims could accommodate only 220,000 persons, making it impossible for the authorities to issue more Hajj permits. The rest of space is allocated for external pilgrims, he explained.

Prince Ahmed bin Abdulaziz, Deputy Interior Minister, inspected the "Hajj Security Command Center" at the Public Security Headquarters in Mina.

On arrival at the venue, Prince Ahmed was received by the Director General of the Public Security and the President of the Hajj Security Committee, lieutenant general Saeed bin Abdullah Al Qahtani. The Deputy Interior Minister was briefed on the works of the Public Security Center which covers all holy sites by TV cameras.

The Deputy Interior Minister was briefed also on coordinating works implemented by the center among various security forces concerned with this year's Hajj.

Following the inspection tour, Prince Ahmed held an expanded meeting with Chiefs of Hajj security forces and listened to a briefing on security plans prepared for the next days and the readiness of the Hajj security forces.

After the meeting, Prince Ahmed bin Abdulaziz thanked Allah Almighty on what has been achieved in terms of successes in this year's Hajj, expressing his thanks to the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques, King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz and Crown Prince Sultan bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, Deputy Premier, Minister of Defense and Aviation and Inspector General for their tireless, continuous and mighty efforts, particularly as regards the Hajj, pilgrims' affairs and highlighted the Saudi Leadership's carefulness and attention for all pilgrims.

On behalf of the employees of the Interior Ministry, Prince Ahmed expressed thanks and appreciation to Minister of Interior Prince Naif bin Abdulaziz, who is also Chairman of the Hajj Supreme Committee for his personal attention and interest in the works of the Hajj.

The Deputy Interior Minister also thanked and expressed gratitude to Prince Mohammed bin Naif, assistant interior minister for security affairs for his keen interest and involvement with the security men in all fields.

In a press statement, Prince Ahmed expressed his thanks and appreciation to the various security forces participating in this year's Hajj, for their efforts for the success of their security and service plans and services in the Hajj.

On the implementation of the advertising campaign entitled " No Permit, No Hajj" which was supervised by the Governor of Makkah Region and Chairman of Hajj Central Committee, Prince Ahmed said : "Prince Khalid Al-Faisal is the Prince of Hajj and the Prince of Makkah Region, who is always more eager than all of us to make the pilgrims perform their rituals at the best level and I think that all of his interest and keenness for all Hajj affairs starts from the beginning of the year and ends with the end of the year and it has no specific time-frame, so he deserves all our thanks and appreciation".

As for the phenomenon of sleeping and sitting on the pedestrian paths, by lanes and roads in Mina, Prince Ahmed explained that it returns to various reasons, emphasizing that this year's hajj is better than the last one and the next one will be still better, Allah Willing.

In answering a question about the pilgrims from inside the Holy City of Makkah, he said that the people of Makkah are adored by all and are always eager to serve the pilgrims, look into their well-being and serve them in various fields.

"In case of some irregularities or violations made by some expatriates in Makkah, the procedure required to correct this matter and it should be undertaken by their sponsors in order to have the necessary permits, enjoy the proper care and the appropriate places to perform all the rituals easily.

The Deputy Interior Minister stressed also the importance of the media's role in guiding the people, directing them and clarifying the facts for them too, expressing his satisfaction with the information provided by the Saudi and non-Saudi media in helping the pilgrims and guiding them, asking them to do more of their best to guide and direct people.

Referring to some Saudi pilgrims attempt to perform Hajj without a permit, he said "I am not aware of such an attempt. Why should one cross the cordons which are designed to facilitate the Hajj for those who wanted to perform it, but the Royal appeal was directed in particular towards the Saudi brothers, and what is now required of them is to perform Hajj every five years, leaving a chance for their brothers who don't perform Hajj before ... As such whoever breaches this system, only harms himself and others".

Prince Ahmed emphasized also that whoever seeks to violate this appeal will face a deterrent penalty.

He clarified that all procedures are targeting towards serving the pilgrims, noting that the system allows Saudis to perform Hajj every five years, citing that the Prophet (PBUH) didn't perform Hajj but only once in his all life.

He stressed also that such a violation is considered a breach of the regulation and organization and is an improper act for every Muslim and citizen.

Guests of the Custodian of the two Holy Mosques completed their Hajj rituals and settled in Makkah in preparation for going to Madinah to visit the Prophet's Mosque and then to Jeddah to return home.

This was stated by Dr Abdullah al-Liheidan, the assistant undersecretary of the ministry of Islamic affairs, endowments, call and guidance for Islamic affairs, and who is also the executive president of the program of hosting the guests of the Custodian of the two Holy Mosques in Hajj.

In a press statement, he said that this year, the program hosted 585 pilgrims from 16 East European countries while the total number hosted by the program was 1017 pilgrims belonging to 40 countries of various continents of the world.

While staying in Makkah to perform Hajj this year, Governor of the American state of Minnesota Keith Ellison paid a visit to several Islamic facilities in Makkah.

In written remarks after a visit to the Two Holy Mosques Exhibition in Makkah, the U.S. official hailed what he had seen. Later, he paid a visit to Zamzam Water Auto Filling Factory where he was briefed on its contents.

Ellison is making his first trip ever to Hajj.

The British Prime Minister sent his “warm wishes” and greetings to British Muslims on the occasion of Eid Al-Adha.

Gordon Brown in his message to the British Muslim Community said, “For me, the inspirational thing about Hajj is the great stirrings for justice that shows in the Ummah".

“At this special time, we can also reflect upon and celebrate the tremendous contributions of British Muslims to our national life, " he was quoted as saying in a report published by Saudi Gazette.

On his part, Britain’s foreign secretary David Miliband also sent his greetings. “As Muslims all over the world, including in Britain, celebrate with their families, it is a good moment to reflect on the message that Eid carries for us all,” Miliband said. “Eid Al-Adha commemorates the sacrifice and steadfastness of Prophet Abraham. These two qualities, of sacrifice and steadfastness, are ones that must guide what we do,” he said.