Saudi king receives two messages from Yemeni, Qatari leaders

Holy Quran basis for all principles, ethics, characteristics, says King Abdullah

Shoura Council chairman asserts importance of cooperation for better int'l work

Kouman praises Saudi support to Council of Arab Universities Union

Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz received a message from Yemeni president Ali Abdullah Salih. The message was conveyed to the king by Yemeni foreign minister Dr. Abu Bakr Alqurbi during an audience.

The minister also conveyed greetings of the president to the king who in turn sent his greetings to the president.

The audience was attended by a number of princes and officials.

The king also received a message from the Emir of Qatar Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifah Al Thani.

The message was delivered to the king by Qatari ambassador to the kingdom Ali bin Abdullah Al Mahmood during an audience.

The ambassador conveyed greeting of the Emir to the king who in turn sent his greetings to the Emir.

The audience was attended by a number of princes.

Meanwhile, The Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz Al Saud received at the Royal Court at Al-Yamamah Palace the Grand Mufti of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia Sheikh Abdulaziz bin Abdullah Al Alsheikh, who is also Chairman of the Senior Ulema Commission and Religious Research Department and Ifta (deliverance of legal opinions); Chairman of Supreme Judiciary Council Sheikh Saleh bin Mohammed Al-Luhaidan; other Ulema; and Sheikhs who came to greet the King.

The Monarch also received the Chief of Guidance Body at the National Guard Dr. Ibrahim Abu Abat who was accompanied by members and chairmen of committees and winners of the 5th session of the National Guard Contest for Memorizing the Holy Quran.

Dr. Ibrahim delivered a speech in which he praised the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques for his auspices of National Guard Contest for Memorizing the Holy Quran as well as his continuous support for the contest reflected in paying the total cost of the contest prize worth SR 650,000.

The prize's first winner delivered a speech on behalf of the other laureates in which he lauded the auspices of the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques to the contest.

Then, the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz Al Saud delivered the following speech:

"In the name of Allah, the Merciful, the Compassionate. I would like to congratulate you and thank you for memorizing the Holy Quran which we and all Muslims are proud of. Thanks to Allah that this country has been established on the basis of the words of the Almighty Allah, the Holy Quran. This feature characterizes all Muslims anywhere because the Holy Quran is the basis for all principles, ethics and characteristics. All Muslims should learn about these characteristics, take time to memorize them and ponder on their inspired duties towards Muslims and humanity as a whole. I thank you and wish you success, peace be upon you and Allah's mercy and blessings".

The Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz Al Saud also received sons of late Sheikh Abdulaziz bin Khalid bin Jamea', the Commander of 5th Regiment at the National Guard. The sons of Sheikh Abdulaziz expressed their gratitude and appreciation of the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques for offering his condolences and sympathy to them on the death of their father.

The Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques praised late Sheikh Abdulaziz, praying to Allah to bless his soul.

Following that, Dr. Ibrahim Abu Abat handed over a memorial gift to the Monarch. The gift is a collection of books on the Holy Quran and its interpretation printed at the expense of Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques. In turn, the Monarch gifted it to the Grand Mufti of the Kingdom who thanked the King for this gesture.

The audiences were attended by Prince Miqren bin Abdulaziz, Chief of General Intelligence; and a number of princes and officials.

The 118th General Assembly of the International Parliamentary Union concluded its deliberations. Dr. Salih bin Abdullah bin Homaid, Chairman of the Shoura Council of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia led his country's delegation to the meeting in which representatives of 135 chambers also took part.

Among the union committees' decisions were the call for accelerating the peaceful establishment of a Palestinian state and alleviating the deteriorating situation in Gaza strip in addition to the role of parliamentarians in achieving equilibrium between national security, humanitarian security and personal freedoms.

A number of decisions were also taken on the role of parliamentary control on government external assistance policies, immigrant laborers, human smuggling, hatred against foreigners and human rights.

The next session of the union will be held in April 2009 in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. Curbing the proliferation of nuclear weapons, climate change and its impact on development, and freedom of expression will be the main topics at Addis Ababa conference.

On the other hand, the Secretaries General of world parliaments also concluded their meeting on the fringes of the General Assembly meetings. Ahmed bin Abdulaziz Al-Yahya, Secretary General of the Shoura Council represented his organization in the meeting.

Saudi Arabia joined the Geneva-based world's biggest parliamentary umbrella in 2003 and since effectively participated in all its meetings.

Meanwhile, Chairman of the Shoura Council Dr. Salih bin Abdullah bin Homaid received at his premises in Cape Town Speaker of Pakistani parliament Fahmida Mirza and a number of Pakistani lawmakers.

At the beginning of the meeting Homaid congratulated Mirza for having been elected as Speaker of the National Assembly.

He praised the strong relations between the two countries.

For her part, Mirza voiced happy over the meeting, expressing appreciation to Saudi stances towards Pakistan and the Islamic countries. He also received Ibrahim Rasool, Premier of Western Cape province, South Africa and his accompanying delegation.

They reviewed issues pertaining to bilateral relations.

The meeting was attended by Saudi ambassador to South Africa Mohammed Mahmoud al-Ali and South African ambassador to the Kingdom John Davies as well as Dr Mohanna al-Mohanna, the Director General of the Office of the Chairman of the Shoura Council. He also met with Speaker of Shoura Council in Qatar Issa Rabiyah al-Kawari.

The meeting dwelt on means to bolster ties in various domains.

Minister of Labor Dr. Ghazi Al-Gosaibi said in a press statement last night that many private sector institutions achieved accepted rise in the number of Saudis enlisted in their Payroll while others failed to achieve this goal.

The actual number of unemployed is less than half-a-million persons. The unemployment among male youths has started declining, he said.

Al-Gosaibi said that the unemployment is like the two sides of a coin; its head is represented by the private sector's readiness to employ the youths while its toe is projected by the readiness of the youth themselves to work through training.

In response to a question whether the unemployed people could be given subsistence allowance or social insurance of any kind, Al-Gosaibi said this topic has not been discussed by any ministry at any level, adding that 6 European countries have decided to radically reduce insurance against unemployment because this insurance is a hinder in the employment process, many unemployed will resort to this solution and stay at home.

The Minister said the Ministry initiated many training programs with stipends worth SR1500, adding that any unemployed can enlist him in one of these programs and get the training and rewards rather than getting allowance from the government and stay at home.

As regards the expected role of the National Center for Employment in resolving the unemployment problem, Al-Gosaibi said the resolution of the unemployment problem is not an administrative process; it relies on the Private sector and the youth themselves. "Moreover, unemployment is not noticed among those people who have efficient training. As such Medical, Engineering and Accounting graduates are attracted and recruited by private sector's institutions," he said.

Al-Gosaibi reiterated that the main problem as regards unemployment issue is that high school graduates and those with lesser qualifications do not want to be trained.

Referring to the Ministry's futuristic plans, Al-Gosaibi said "We have a 25-year span Employment Strategy recently submitted to The Supreme Economic Council".

Minister of Labor Dr Ghazi Al-Qosaibi received Executive President of the British Council Martin Davison accompanied by the Council's Middle East Regional Director Robe Lines and the Council's Director in the Kingdom Jim Scarth.

They reviewed aspects of cooperation between the British Council and the General Organization for Technical and Vocational Training.

In Tunis, The Secretary General of Arab Interior Ministers Council Mohamed Bin Ali Kouman praised the continued support of Custodian of The Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah Bin Abdulaziz to science and scientists and his sponsorship to the 41st edition of the Arab Universities Union Council which held in Naif University for Security Sciences in Riyadh a few days ago.

In statements to the Saudi News Agency, he said that the king's support assert his interest as well as his Crown Prince to science and scientists and his believe in the important role played by the science in this world and its ability to achieve progress and prosperity.

"The Arab Interior Ministers Council and the Naif University for Security Sciences as well as all scientists in the Arab World have a great honor as King Abdullah Bin Abdulaziz accepted the honorary doctorate in security sciences," he added.

"This scientific degree came to assert the appreciation of the all for the king's right vision and his deep understanding to security and intellectual conditions in the Arab world and his continued efforts in maintaining security and patching up differences in the Arab World," Kouman added.

He also hailed the kingdom's efforts in the joint Arab security action, underling the Saudi constant position in supporting security and stability in various fields.