Crown Prince Sultan receives phone call from Yemen's president, talks dealt with bilateral relations

Prince Abdulrahman patronizes graduation of King Faisal Air College cadets

Prince Khalid al-Faisal names winners of King Faisal international prize

Prince Khalid bin Sultan receives French military officials, gets abreast of war training course in staff college

Crown Prince Sultan bin Abdulaziz, Deputy Premier, Minister of Defense and Aviation and Inspector General, received a telephone call from Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh.

During the conversation, they exchanged cordial talks and reviewed the bilateral relationships between the two countries.

Prince Abdulrahman bin Abdulaziz, Deputy Minister of Defense and Aviation and Inspector General, maintained that King Faisal Air College will move to its basic location giving it more capabilities. "The current site of the college is compact and it will move to its basic location where its staff and cadets will be far more in number but proportionate to the country's need," he said.

In a statement after his patronage of graduation of the seventy fifth batch of King Faisal Air College, Prince Abdulrahman bin Abdulaziz said, "My feelings have been attached to the college since I joined it".

“I and my brotherly officers, noncommissioned officers and cadets, are always trying to use all means that are sound and achieve advancement and sophistication. We are in a very large continent-like country requiring us to act in accordance with its location, area and nature so that weapons are linked to it and not it linked to the weapons... Thus, the weapons imported by Saudi Arabia have specific features that conform to our country's area", He added.

Prince Abdulrahman underscored the importance of aviation because Saudi Arabia needs it most in view of its long distances although planes in the Kingdom still consume more fuel traveling those long distances than similar planes in other countries.

Prince Khalid Al-Faisal, the Governor of Makkah Region, Director General of King Faisal Charitable Foundation, and President of King Faisal International Prize Panel expressed his thanks to and appreciation of 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 support for King Faisal Charitable Foundation and King Faisal International Prize.

In a press conference last night following a dinner held in honor of members of Prize Selection Committees, the Prince said that the Prize pays great attention to science and culture, expressing his pride of the Kingdom's interest in this good trend.

Then the Secretary General of King Faisal International Prize, Dr. Abdullah Al-Saleh Al-Othaimeen read a statement issued by the General Secretariat of the Prize announcing the winners of the Prize for 2009.

In the Science category, the prize was awarded jointly to Professor Richard Henry Friend of the UK, chairman of the Council of the School of Physical Sciences and Cavendish Professor of Physics, University of Cambridge; and Professor Rashid Alievich Sunyaev of Russia, chief scientist of the Space Research Institute at the Russian Academy of Science and director of the Max-Planck Institute for Astrophysics in Germany.

In the category of Medicine, the prize was granted to Professor Ronald Levy of the US, the head of the Division of Oncology at Stanford University Medical School’s Department of Medicine.

In the category of Arabic Language and Literature, the prize went to Professor Abdulaziz bin Nasser Al-Manie of Saudi Arabia. The emeritus professor of Arabic Literature at King Saud University in Riyadh, Al-Manie was commended for his distinguished efforts in editing, verifying and elucidating several Arabic literary works of the third and seventh century Hijrah.

The prize for Islamic Studies went to Professor Abdulsalam Mohammed Cheddadi of Morocco.

The prize in the category of Service to Islam has been awarded to the Principal Shari’ah Society for Qur’an and Sunnah Scholars in Egypt.

Then Prince Khalid Al-Faisal responded to journalists' questions.

As for the date of handing over the prize, the Prince said it will be a month or a month and a half after its announcement.

The conference and dinner were attended by princes, officials, university professors and intellectuals.

Prince Khalid bin Sultan bin Abdulaziz, the Assistant Defense and Aviation Minister for Military Affairs, received Chief of Staff of the French Air Force General D'armée Aérienne Stéphane Abrial.

During the meeting, they reviewed issues of mutual interest.

Prince Sultan bin Fahd bin Abdulaziz, General President of Youth Welfare, Head of the Saudi Federation of those with Special Needs, described acceptance of the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz of the prize of humanitarian service from the Disabled Children Association as an honor to all the institutions concerned with these dear community segment with all their structures and cadres alike. Prince Sultan bin Fahd also termed acceptance of the award as an incentive to those in-charge of these institutions to further promote and develop their plans and programs to carry out their noble mission to the full.

In a statement on this occasion, Prince Sultan bin Fahd said " the pioneering role played by the King of Humanity, the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz, in fostering the Disabled Children Association and supporting its national programs; his care for effecting a stride in countering the problem of disability in Saudi Arabia curatively and preventively; and his generous directives that materialized priority of this dear group in governmental developmental plans directed this humanitarian award to its right direction by commemorating this philanthropic leader who led humanitarian effort in the country making the Kingdom a model for noble human values."

Prince Sultan bin Fahd maintained that there are many manifestations indicating care and support of the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques and his Crown Prince for those with special needs including: Saudization of the internationally scarce rehabilitation jobs, enacting of the draft national regulations of care of special needs individuals in Saudi Arabia; issuance of the Royal Order doubling government annual aid to those covered by social insurance; giving priority to special needs individuals in bank loans and land grants; allocation of a percentage of charitable housing to those with special needs; approval to calculate employment of an individual with special needs as employment of four Saudi citizens upon applying Saudization; instruction to establish a children's specialist hospital as diagnostic and remedial referential hospital that contribute to avoidance of many disabilities and support of early examination; instructions to admit disability cases in universities; and endorsement of the international convention on the rights those with special needs and its protocols.

The General President of Youth Welfare said care of the monarch also included sports of those with special needs which led to continental and international achievements. Prince Sultan bin Fahd also lauded efforts of Prince Sultan bin Salman bin Abdulaziz, Chairman of Board of Directors of Disabled Children Association and all his aides in achieving mission of the association.

The General President of Youth Welfare praised the efforts exerted by the prize committee under chairmanship of Prince Turki bin Mohamed bin Fahd bin Abdulaziz which lifted the prize to this distinguished level.