Saudi King confers with President Abbas on Palestinian developments

Saudi CP receives Prince Rashid bin Al-Hassan II in Agadir

Prince Naif: Kingdom planning to erect fence along borders with Iraq to prevent infiltration

Saudi king to take part in Washington summit - FM

Yemeni president thanks Saudi leadership for helping Yemen in facing rainstorm disaster

Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz received President Mahmoud Abbas, Chairman of the Executive Committee of the Palestine Liberation Organization and President of the Palestinian National Authority.

During the audience, they discussed developments at the Palestinian arena and international efforts to achieve peace in the region and enable the Palestinian people to realize their legitimate rights according to the international legitimacy's resolutions and the Arab Peace Initiative.

The audience was attended by Prince Abdulaziz bin Abdullah bin Abdulaziz, Advisor to the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques, and other officials.

President Mahmoud Abbas, Chairman of the Executive Committee of the Palestine Liberation Organization and President of the Palestinian National Authority, and the accompanying delegation had arrived on a visit to the kingdom.

During the visit, he will meet with Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz.

President Mahmoud Abbas, who was accompanied by a number of Palestinian officials, was received by Member of the Cabinet and Minister of State for the Affairs of the Shoura Council Dr. Saud Almat-hami and other officials.

Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz received German Vice Chancellor and Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier and the accompanying delegation.

During the audience, the German official conveyed greetings of German leaders to the king who sent his greetings to them.

Also, during the audience, Saudi-German relations and a number of issues of common interest were discussed.

The audience was attended by Prince Saud Alfaisal, the Foreign Minister, and other officials.

Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz thanked King Abdulaziz City for Science and Technology for its efforts in the field of registering industrial property and copyright (patents and industrial models).

This came in a reply cable the king sent to the President of the City Dr. Mohammad Alswayel after the king viewed the report sent by the City on progress achieved by the City in the field of registering industrial property and copyright (patents and industrial models).

The king urged the City to facilitate and accelerate the process of registering the patents.

Crown Prince Sultan bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, Deputy Premier, Minister of Defense and Aviation and Inspector General, received at his palace in Agadir Prince Rashid bin Al-Hassan II.

The audience was attended by Prince Khalid bin Fahd bin Khalid; Prince Khalid bin Saad bin Fahd; Prince Fahd bin Abdullah bin Musaed; a number of princes and officials.

Prince Naif bin Abdulaziz, Interior Minister, received at his office in Riyadh this evening President Mahmoud Abbas, the President of the Executive Committee of the Palestine Liberation Organization and President of the Palestinian National Authority.

During the meeting, they discussed a host of issues of mutual concern including security aspects as well as the latest developments at the Palestinian arena and the international efforts aiming at enabling the Palestinian people to restore their legitimate rights according to international legitimacy resolutions.

The meeting was attended by the Palestinian President's accompanying delegation.

Prince Naif bin Abdulaziz, Interior Minister, considered infiltration cases into Iraq from Saudi Arabia as rare, noting at the same time that the Kingdom is planning to erect a fence along its border with Iraq to prevent infiltration attempts from Saudi Arabia to Iraq.

In a statement to the press after kicking off the first national campaign to enlighten people on food safety, organized by the General Authority for Food and Drugs, Prince Naif said that the Kingdom is exerting intensive efforts with Iraq so that Iraq extradites Saudi detainees there for investigations in the Kingdom. "However, had they not received facilities to reach Iraq, they could have not reached that end", he added.

On the trial of those involved in terrorist cases, he said "There is no more fair that the Islamic judiciary. I'm sure our judges fear nobody but God Almighty and rule in accordance with the holy Quran's instructions. However, whoever is innocent will be set free and whoever pleads guilty will receive a tough punishment that deters others from committing the same crime".

He reiterated confidence in firstly, God Almighty and, secondly, in the Saudi judges' fairness.

On behalf of Crown Prince Sultan bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, Deputy Premier, Minister of Defense and Aviation and Inspector General, who is also Chairman of the Board of Directors of the General Commission for Food and Drugs, Prince Salman bin Abdulaziz, Governor of Riyadh Region, launched the first national campaign for enlightenment on food safety which lasts for one week under the title "No for food poisoning".

Addressing the gathering, Prince Naif, who is also member of the commission's board of directors, said that the Saudi government has formed specialized committees to monitor epidemic poisoning cases, examine the reasons behind the phenomenon, try to contain it and punish those held responsible for collective poisoning.

The event was attended by Prince Dr. Mansour bin Mit'eb bin Abdulaziz, Deputy Minister of Municipal and Rural Affairs; Dr. Hamad Al-Manae, Minister of Health; Abdullah Al-Hussein, Minister of Water and Electricity; Abdullah bin Ahmed Zeneal, Minister of Commerce and Industry; and senior officials.

The Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques, King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz Al Saud will attend the economic summit of Group 20 to be held in Washington in November 2008, Prince Saud al-Faisal, the Foreign Minister of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, announced.

In a joint press conference with visiting Foreign Minister and Vice Chancellor of Germany Dr. Frank-Walter Steinmeier, Prince Saud Al-Faisal said "the King welcomes the economic summit and has accepted an invitation to take part in the meeting scheduled to discuss the international financial crisis and its repercussions and the requirements of joint efforts to restore confidence of the global economy and avoid entering into a recession."

He said the talks between the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques, King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz Al Saud and the German Minister dealt with bilateral relations between the two countries and ways of strengthening them in all areas, and covered the international financial crisis.

He pointed out that the King expressed during the meeting confidence in the strength of the Saudi economy and that of the Gulf Cooperation Council member states, as well as its continued growth and stable banking system enabling it to cope up with the possible effects of the global financial crisis.

He said that the view points of the two sides were identical as regards international and regional political issues, and the peace process in the Middle East.

They underscored the importance of exerting double efforts and endeavors to overcome these obstacles and push the peace process towards its agreed frameworks based on international legitimacy resolutions and the commitments of Annapolis conference and the Arab peace initiative.

Prince Saud Al-Faisal said "The Kingdom stresses that one of the most important uncertainties casting shadow over the peace process is the continuation of Israel to renege its commitments and to opt for unilateral policies, including the expansion of settlements, which would change the geographic and legal status of the occupied territories and derail the establishment of an integral, independent and viable Palestinian state.

He underlined the importance of taking this matter seriously, including all issues of major conflict on Al-Quds, borders, refugees, water and other issues which together constitute the foundations of a just, comprehensive and lasting settlement to the conflict in the Middle East.

On the developments in Iraq, the Saudi Foreign Minister expressed the welcome of the Kingdom of the results of the 5th meeting of Ministers of Interior of Iraq's neighboring countries held in the Jordanian capital of Amman recently, and its hope that this might contribute to enhancing the cooperation and coordination between countries of the region to maintain security and stability in Iraq and promote its national unity and that the Iraqis rebuild their country away from any external influences.

He said that the situation in Afghanistan was among the topics discussed, emphasizing the importance of intensifying efforts to promote national unity among all segments of Afghan ethnic segments and work on rebuilding the Afghan economy and social development within the framework of the international community's drive to restore security and stability of this country, which long suffered from external conflicts, internal disputes, and that made it a habitat and haven for terrorism.

Prince Saud Al-Faisal said the Kingdom and Germany have agreed to help Pakistan, and to request from the International Monetary Fund to provide the required support for Pakistan.

With regard to the crisis over Iran's nuclear file, he expressed appreciation of the role and efforts of Germany within the group of "five plus one", which aims at resolving the crisis peacefully and to ensure the Gulf region free of weapons of mass destruction and nuclear weapons while ensuring the right of countries of the region to the peaceful use of nuclear energy in accordance with the standards and procedures of the International Atomic Energy Agency. In this regard, he stated that "while appreciating these efforts, the Kingdom renews its call for expanding the initiative to include all the countries of the Middle East including Israel".

Prince Saud said the Kingdom is awaiting a formal request from Afghanistan to start serious talks, "We must ensure that the groups attending the dialogue are open-minded and open-hearted and that the purpose of the meeting is to reach an agreement and not display problems and issues."

He also highlighted the most important elements on which discussion will be focused on, including rejection of terrorism and refusal to deal with terrorists, adding, and "If agreed to these conditions, the meeting could be launched".

He pointed out that Saudi Arabia will attend the next meeting of the Group of Friends of Pakistan to be held in Abu Dhabi, stressing that the Kingdom would do what it can to cooperate with Pakistan as a country, an important friend and neighbor. "Thus, the Kingdom will give its utmost attention to the difficulties facing Pakistan in this period."

He expressed the Saudi aspiration to contribute as much potential to address the global financial crisis. "No one wants that the situation levels up to economic stagnation in the world. We are all looking forward to contribute to the extent of our capabilities, in this context; the participation of the Kingdom will be active with other States which will attend the economic summit."

Dr. Abdullah Barwan, an ophthalmology consultant at the Madinah-based Al-Maghrabi Eye Center, who is also Chairman of the Canadian Society for religions dialogue, has highlighted the success attained by the initiative of the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques, King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz pertaining to promotion of a dialogue among followers of religions, cultures and civilizations.

He described the international conference on dialogue, earlier held in Madrid, as a successful one, and said the conference has paved the way for building an international ethics system.

He made these remarks in a press statement on the eve of Foreign Minister Prince Saud al-Faisal's patronage of the fourth meeting for the forum of the strategic vision: Russia and the Muslim world.

The forum will be organized under the title of 'the initiative of King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz for dialogue among followers of religions and cultures.

He said the King's initiative for the Dialogue was aimed at narrowing gaps among nations and enhancing the pillars of coexistence and the concepts of tolerance.

Professor Barwan said the initiative of the King is an ideological event at a time when contacts are underway at the UN to activate the recommendations of the international dialogue conference.

He noted that the initiative has started from a solid base and it is based on the principles of equality and mutual respect among the followers of religions, cultures and civilization.

The most important outcome of the conference was confession as regards presence of fundamental differences among all religions, but the differences shouldn't lead to conflicts and confrontations.

Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh thanked Saudi King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz AL Saud for the generous donation of $100 million to counter consequences of the rainstorm in the eastern governorates of Hadramout and Mahrah.

On a phone call, president Saleh voiced the appreciation of the Yemeni leadership and people to the Saudi donation that included foodstuff and medical aid for the rainstorm-affected people in the governorates.

President Saleh affirmed that this noble attitude of King Abdullah indicated to the strong relations linked the two brotherly countries and people.

President Ali Abdullah Saleh received condolence cables form the Saudi King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz Al Suad and His Crown Prince Sultan bin Abdulaziz Al Saud.

The cables voiced the deep sorrow and sympathy with the Yemeni leadership and people, particularly the families of the victims of the rainstorm in the eastern governorate of Hadramout and Mahrah.

Meanwhile, Prince Salman bin Abdulaziz, Governor of Riyadh Region chaired a meeting of the Board of Directors of King Abdulaziz Foundation for Research and Archives at its headquarters at King Abdulaziz Historical Center.

The Council discussed a number of issues on the agenda relating to the scientific activities carried out by the Darah and its future scientific projects.

Dr. Fahd Al-Sumari, the Secretary General of Darah pointed out that the Council was briefed on the scientific works accomplished by the Foundation during the past period in its efforts to serve the History of Arabian Peninsula in general and the history of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia in particular.

Prince Salman bin Abdulaziz, the Governor of Riyadh region, received Sri Lankan ambassador-designate to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia Mohammed Abdelmajeed.

During the meeting, they reviewed issues of mutual interest.