|
|
January 7, 2005 |
|
||
|
|
|
|
||
|
|
|
***** The Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Fahd Ibn Abdul Aziz has sent a cable of condolences to Maldives' President Maumoon Abdul Gayoom on the casualties and damage caused by the earthquake and consequent floods which took place in some parts of his country. Similar cables were also sent to the President by Crown Prince Abdullah Ibn Abdul Aziz, the Deputy Prime Minister and Commander of the National Guard, and Prince Sultan Ibn Abdul Aziz, the Second Deputy Prime Minister, Minister of Defense and Aviation and Inspector General. Crown Prince Abdullah Ibn Abdul Aziz, the Deputy Prime Minister and Commander of the National Guard received a message from Senegal's President Abdullah Wad. The message was delivered to Assistant Foreign Minister Dr. Nizar Obaid Madani during his meeting Deputy Prime Minister with Senegal's Presidential Envoy Kareem Wad. Prince Abdullah Ibn Abdul Aziz organization for his parents for housing development will start to implement the first phase of its project for the rural housing in Tabuk, Al Madinah Al Munawarrah, Makkah Al Mukkaramah, Al-Baha, Assir, Jizan, Hail, and the Eastern region. 2000 homes will be built with contract amounting to SR 437 million. The Secretary General of the organization Dr Youssef Ibn Ahmad Al Otheimein said the designs have taken into consideration the requirements of the people according to the traditions of the Saudi society. Each housing unit will include 4 rooms, a kitchen and a bathroom which will be built on 175m2. Prince Sultan Ibn Abdul Aziz, the Second Deputy Prime Minister, Defense and Aviation Minister and Inspector General, received the Head of the American Military Training Mission in the Kingdom Major General Larry Toweitchel. They reviewed issues of mutual interest. On the other hand, Prince Sultan received the Secretary General of the Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC) Dr Akmaluddin Ihsan Oghlo. They reviewed the developments of the situation at the Islamic arena. Prince Sultan Ibn Abdul Aziz, the Second Deputy Prime Minister, Defense and Aviation Minister and Inspector General, received cables from Bahrain's Premier Sheikh Khalifa bin Salman Al Khalifa and Kuwait's Premier Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah condemning the terrorist acts which took place in Riyadh. In reply cables, Prince Sultan thanked them for condemning these criminal acts which are contrary to the religion, reason, and Arab original values. He also appreciated their support for the measures taken by the Kingdom to combat and eradicate terrorism. Prince Salman Ibn Abdul Aziz, the Governor of Riyadh Region received here today the Minister of Communications and Information Technology Eng. Mohammed Jameel Mulla and President of Saudi Post Organization Dr. Mohammed Salih Benten. During the reception, Prince Salman was briefed on the Saudi Post's strategic project aiming at developing the Post sector on economic bases in accordance with the world criteria. Prince Salman Ibn Abdul Aziz, Governor of Riyadh region has chaired the meeting of the committee of reconciliation and good wills at the Al-Hokm palace in Riyadh. The meeting started with a speech by Prince Salman Ibn Abdul Aziz on the importance of tolerance and pardon amongst members of the society, pointing that the work of the committee is an extension to the efforts exerted by the leadership to ensure consolidation amongst members of the society. The meeting then discussed the mechanism of the committees' work. The committee was formed with the directives of Prince Salman Ibn Abdul Aziz, according to the rules of God the Almighty who calls for tolerance and goodness amongst people. Prince Khalid Al-Faisal the Governor of Asir region unveiled the development projects stated in the budget for Asir region, which costs reaches SR 2800 million. These sums will be allocated to water projects including transferring water, dams, and sewage network. The Budget also provided more than a billion SR to building motorways linking Asir with Riyadh, Taif and Jeddah. This came during a meeting of the region council presided over by Prince Khalid Al-Faisal and attended by Prince Faisal Ibn Khalid Al-Faisal, the under secretary of the Asir and other members of the council. Prince Khalid conveyed to the presence the good wishes of the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques, Crown Prince Abdullah and Prince Sultan and added that the successes achieved . Prince Khalid Al-Faisal denounced the deviant group perpetrating acts of terrorism, and said it is trying to undermine peace and security in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. He praised the work of the security force in fighting terrorism and stressed that the deviant will be defeated. Prince Saud Al-Faisal, the Foreign Minister, inaugurated the Ministry's site of the new electronic gate on the Internet. Prince Ambassador Mohammed Ibn Saud Ibn Khalid, the Ministry's Director General of Information and Studies Center briefed Prince Saud on the gate's information services. In a speech following the inauguration ceremony, Prince Saud said that the gate will provide information services to citizens and others at home and abroad, adding it will be an information window of the Ministry, its branches inside the Kingdom and of Saudi embassies all over the world. Emanating from the ambitious and developmental plan of the government which focused on the fundamentals of transformation into the E-Government to employ information technology properly, the electronic gate was inaugurated, Prince Saud said. The ceremony was attended by Assistant Foreign Minister Dr. Nizar Obaid Madani and a number of the Ministry's officials. The site will enable its visitors to get acquainted with the required information about the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia in general and the Foreign Ministry in particular. The Saudi embassies abroad have been linked with the new electronic gate. Moreover, the electronic gate includes a news bulletin containing the press statements of the Saudi Leadership and the important events and developments in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia in addition to the official statements of the Cabinet and the press conferences that may be held by the Foreign Minister. Prince Saud Al-Faisal, the Foreign Minister separately received at his office the Secretary General of Islamic Conference Organization Prof. Akmaluddin Ihsan Aglou and Ambassador Ahmed Abdul Wahab Jabaratullah, Regional Representative for the United Nations Refugees Affairs . Prince Saud Al-Faisal also signed an agreement with the Secretary General of the Muslim World League Dr Abdullah Ibn Abdul Mohsin Al-Turki concerning the League's headquarters. The meeting and the signing ceremony were attended by a number of officials. Prince Khalid Ibn Sultan Ibn Abdul Aziz, the Assistant Minister of Defense and Aviation for Military Affairs, received Lt. General Ishfak Pervis Kiani, the Head of the Department of the Military Intelligence in Pakistan, and the accompanying delegation. They reviewed issues of mutual interest. A large number of highly efficient administrative, technical and media personnel have been mobilized as part of preparations by the Ministry of Culture and Information for this year's Hajj season. Assistant Minister of Culture and Information Prince Turki Ibn Sultan Ibn Abdul Aziz said that under directives of Minister of Culture and Information Dr. Fuad Ibn Abdul Salam Al-Farsi, services of a number of administrative, technical and media employees from various departments and branches of the ministry in the kingdom's cities have been used to help in achieving the full goals of the media plan of this year's Hajj season. The Assistant Minister of Culture and Information added that the ministry has mobilized all its capabilities to serve representatives of Arab, Islamic and international media. Prince Turki Ibn Sultan Ibn Abdul Aziz highlighted the great efforts exerted by different organs of the ministry in this regard. President Bashar Al-Assad received at Al-Rawda palace US Deputy Secretary of State Richard L. Armitage. Talks during the meeting dealt with the situation in Iraq, the underway political process there including the elections. Talks also dealt with the importance of the achievement of just and comprehensive peace in the region and its impact on stability in the region. The meeting was attended by Foreign Minister Farouk Al-Shara, the US Assistant Secretary of State for the Near East Affairs William Burns, Syria's Ambassador to Washington Imad Mustafa, the US Ambassador to Syria Mrs. Margaret Scobey. Also an official session of talks was held in Damascus on Sunday between Foreign Minister Farouk Al-Shara and US Deputy Secretary of State Richard L. Armitage. Talks during the meeting focused on the latest developments in the region, the bilateral relations and ways of developing them in addition to the situation in Iraq from its various sides. In this regard Al-Shara stressed that Iraq's stability, unity and security are not only in Iraq's interest, but also in the interest of Syria; on this base Syria has been stressing readiness to continue its cooperation with the Iraqi side to boost security on borders. Both sides also touched upon chances for the achievement of just and comprehensive peace in the region where Armitage confirmed that the US Administration in President Bush's second term would make the realization of just and comprehensive peace within its priorities. Both sides' viewpoints were similar regarding the Iraqi elections and the need to have a full Iraqi participation in it. In a statement he made following his meeting with Al-Shara; Armitage described his talks with President Bashar Al-Assad as serious and friendly. Regarding topic of security on the borders between Syria and Iraq Armitage said: " Syria had achieved a real progress during the few last months on borders security." On the Middle East peace process, Armitage affirmed his country's commitment to establish just and comprehensive peace in the region indicating that there is a chance for the peace process after the Palestinian elections. The Arab Foreign Ministers emergency session was postponed to January 12-13, and a meeting of permanent representatives at the Arab League would be held two days before to prepare the agenda, it was disclosed here on Tuesday. The ministerial meeting was due to be held on January 9-10. The decision to postpone the meeting acme after consultations with league's member states who suggested the delay to give an opportunity for some Arab ministers take part in the signing ceremony of the Sudanese peace accords on the same date, an Arab diplomatic source said. Arab League Secretary General Amre Mousa is due to attend the signing ceremony in Nairobi, Kenya. Kuwait's information minister resigned, one day before he was due to be questioned in parliament mainly over allowing "immoral" Western-style concerts in the country. Mohammed Abul Hasan handed in his resignation to Prime Minister Sheikh Sabah Al Ahmad Al Sabah, the state news agency Kuna reported, adding that it was sent to the Emir Sheikh Jaber Al Ahmad Al Sabah, to decide whether to accept it. "I handed in my resignation ... not to avoid serving my country or in fear of political questioning, but to protect my country from political discussions, skirmishes and wrangling from which we would all lose," Kuna quoted Abul Hasan as saying. Sheikh Sabah said that Labour Minister Faisal Al Hajji would oversee the Information Ministry for the time being, Kuna said. Abul Hasan, was due to be questioned by some Islamist MPs over the allegations. A loan agreement worth 50 million Kuwaiti Dinar (RO19.50 million) was signed at the Finance Ministry between the Sultanate of Oman and the Kuwaiti Fund for the Arab Economic Development to finance part of the total cost of a project valued RO106.25 million to develop Salalah Port. The agreement was signed by Ahmed bin Abdulnabi Macki, minister of national economy and deputy chairman of the Financial Affairs and Energy Resources Council, on behalf of the Sultanate's government, while Badr Mishari Al Himaidhi, director-general of the Kuwaiti Fund for Arab Economic Development, signed for his side. As per the agreement, the loan will be repaid through biannual settlements extending for 16 years, preceded by a period of grace of four years. The project is meant to boost economic development in the Sultanate, encourage private sector investments and develop Dhofar governorate by increasing Salalah Port capacity to meet the increasing demand for see transport services. The Arab Fund for Economic and Social Development and the Islamic Development Bank will contribute to the project by RO47.83 million and Salalah Port Services Company will finance the cost of the port equipment which is around RO31 million. The signing ceremony was attended by Darwish bin Ismail Al Balushi, Finance Ministry undersecretary, and Sheikh Faisal Al Hamoud Al Malik Al Sabah, Kuwaiti ambassador to the Sultanate. Two of 22 defendants accused of involvement in a bomb attack and firefight in the Syrian capital in April were sentenced to death by the state security court today, a lawyer said. The court, whose judgements cannot be appealed, ordered that Ahmad Shlash Hassan and Ezzo Hussein al-Hussein be hanged, the lawyer said, asking not to be named. Two other defendants - Azzam al-Nahar and Abdel-Basset Hassida - were sentenced to forced labour for life while the rest of the accused received jail terms of between one and 20 years. Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon voiced strong opposition to any EU role in Middle East peace talks Tuesday charging that the 25-nation bloc had an "unbalanced" approach to the problem. But he told Israeli ambassadors posted to EU capitals that Europe could play a "positive role" in pressing the Palestinians for political reform and an end to armed resistance. Sharon's comments followed the announcement here last week by British Prime Minister Tony Blair that he intended to host a Middle East conference in London in the new year. Israel welcomed the idea in principle but said it would stay away and would not regard the gathering as a fully fledged peace conference. Sharon's comments also followed confident assertions by Dutch Foreign Minister Ben Bot last week that the European Union was now regarded as a full partner in the peace process. "Both America, Israel and the Palestinians accepted Europe as a partner in the game and admitted that no solution was possible without the United States and without Europe," he said. A Yemeni security source has denied that the Yemeni security authorities have detained members of a sleeping Al-Qaeda cell in Yemen. The source who wanted to remain unknown has said to "Al Watan" newspaper that 12 suspects were detained and being investigated. The source did not disclose whether they were related to Al-Qaeda or not. The source added that amongst the detainees there are no Saudi with the name of Ali as mentioned in local Yemeni media. The source added that there are no available information on whether a Saudi is amongst the detainees, and most of them are Yemeni. Yemeni media sources had said that some five people were detained and it is anticipated that five of them are members of an Al-Qaeda cell in Yemen. The sources added that the Yemeni authorities conducted raiding campaigns on a number of houses in northern and eastern Sanaa searching for extremist elements and have detained a number of people. The same sources said the campaign was conducted because of information received of continuous meetings held by members of Al-Qaeda in a house in Sanaa with the aim of organizing an attack. The sources did not unveil the information or the plans of this group. The Chairman of Fatah and Chief of the political department of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) Farouq Al-Qaddoumi, condemned the aggressive practices of the Israeli army against civilians in Palestinian cities and villages and considered these practices as war crimes for which Israel should be tried at the international crime court. Al-Qaddoumi added in a statement published in Tunisia that the practices of the Israeli occupation forces against the Palestinians last of it the aggressions in Khan Younes require a strong Arab stand. Al-Qaddoumi called on the international community, the Quartet, the United Nations and the European Union to interfere as soon as possible to stop these practices which are against all international rules and impose on Israel to withdraw for the occupied Palestinian territories and implement all agreement with the Palestinian side. The Chairman of Fatah and Chief of the political department of the Palestine Liberation Organization warned of the repercussions of the Israeli acts on the Middle East peace process. |