Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques inaugurates Kingdom's Mufti office in Taif, performs tawaf of Kaaba

Prince Khalid Alfaisal signs contract to set up chair for authentication of moderate approach

SR70 million from Saudi Arabia to Darfur projects

Saudi Arabia tops list of donors for humanitarian activities

Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz Al Saud performed the tawaf (circumambulation) of the Kaaba and two tawaf prayers.

The king was received at the Ajyad Gate of the al-Haram Mosque by the director of al-Haram and Prophet's Mosque affairs Sheikh Saleh bin Abdulrahman al-Hassin and his deputy Sheikh Mohammed bin Nasser al-Khuzaim and other officials.

The king also patronized the ceremonies to inaugurate a building of the Kingdom's Mufti at al-Taif region.

He was received at the site by Second Deputy Premier and Minister of the Interior Prince Naif bin Abdulaziz, the Kingdom's Mufti Sheikh Abdulaziz bin Abdullah Al Sheikh and Taif Governor Fahd bin Abdulaziz bin Muammer.

Meanwhile, King Abdullah received in Jeddah a message from French President Nicolas Sarkozy.

The message was handed over to the King by the Personal Envoy of the French President Abubakr Manani during an audience held by the King at his palace in Jeddah.

During the audience, the Personal Envoy of the French President conveyed the greetings of French President Nicolas Sarkozy to the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques. In turn, the King sent his greetings to the President.

The king also received at his palace in Jeddah the Commander of U.S. Central Command, General David H. Petraeus and the accompanying delegation.

During the audience, the Commander of U.S. Central Command conveyed the greetings of U.S. President Barack Obama to the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques. In turn, the King sent his greetings to the President.

The audience was attended by the Charge d'affaires of the U.S. Embassy in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, Richard Erdmann.

On behalf of Custodian of the two Holy Mosques King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, Makkah Governor Prince Khalid Al-Faisal washed the Holy Kaaba.

Upon his arrival, he was received by President of the Affairs of the Makkah and Madinah Holy Mosques Sheikh Salih bin Abdurrahman Al Hussain.

Prince Khalid had the honor of washing the Kaaba's floor and walls with Zamzam water mixed with rosewater using white pieces of cloth that had been soaked in the rosewater mixture . Then, he performed the circling ritual.

Government officials, some ministers as well as a number of Muslim diplomats took part in the event.

The Kaaba is washed twice a year, once before the month of Ramadan and once during Hajj. It takes the equivalent of about five gallons of rosewater mixed into about 47 gallons of Zamzam water to clean the Holy place.

On the other hand, Prince Khalid Alfaisal, the governor of Makkah region, signed at his office in Jeddah a contract to set up a scientific chair at the King Abdulaziz University under the title "Prince Khalid Alfaisal Chair for Authentication of the Saudi Moderate Approach".

The contract was signed for the university by Director Osama bin Sadiq Tayyeb in the presence of the university officials.

Meanwhile, Saudi Arabia's Permanent Representative to the Arab League Ambassador Ahmed Abdulaziz Qattan said that the Government of Saudi Arabia decided to allocate SR 70 million for an urgent relief of Darfur region, noting that it will be provided directly by Saudi Red Crescent Authority.

In a statement, he pointed out that this support comes in implementation of Doha Summit decision on supporting peace and unity in the Sudan.

Saudi Arabia has been ranked as “the largest international donor to humanitarian appeals” when measured as a percentage of gross domestic product (GDP). The Kingdom gave 0.19 percent of the value of its economy to humanitarian funding abroad. This is large in comparison to the US, which spent 0.02 percent of its GDP on humanitarian aid in 2008.

“The US came in 19th on the list,” said a report released by the United Nations last week and published by Arab News.

Commenting on the report, Riyad Musa, the UN’s resident coordinator in Saudi Arabia, said that the rise of Saudi Arabia as the world’s top humanitarian donor “is a great success and shows the strong commitments of Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah Bin Abdulaziz to achieving the UN’s Millennium Development Goals.”

“Recent years have seen the rise of Saudi Arabia as an important and growing force in global development and humanitarian initiatives,” Musa said.

“The UN office in Riyadh commends the nation for its solidarity with fellow countries, and stands ready to continue this agenda through our cooperation programs and initiatives in the Kingdom and abroad.”

Referring to the humanitarian gesture of the Saudi government, the report said Riyadh not only led humanitarian donors as a percentage of GDP when compared to the US, but also in comparison to the more generous European countries, such as Sweden (0.14 percent) and Norway (0.13 percent).