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January 28, 2005 |
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PRINCE SULTAN IBN ABDUL AZIZ TO COMMANDERS OF THE ARMED FORCES: THE POLICY OF THE KINGDOM IS A MODERATE AND WISE ISLAMIC AND ARAB POLICY, WHICH DOES NOT MEET THE NONSENSE WITH A SIMILAR SPEECH. THE SECOND DEPUTY PRIME MINISTER: MEMBERS OF THE SHOURA COUNCIL WILL INCREASE TO 150. WE WILL CHOSE FROM EACH REGION OR TRIBE IN THE KINGDOM AND THE AUTHORITIES OF THE COUNCIL WILL BE INCREASED. The Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Fahd Ibn Abdul Aziz thanked Prince Sultan Ibn Abdul Aziz, the Second Deputy Prime Minister, Minister of Defense and Aviation and Inspector General, for the cable he sent to him earlier in his own name and on behalf of all the personnel of the armed forces, congratulating him on the blessed Eid Al Ad'ha. In a reply cable, The Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques thanked Prince Sultan for his noble feelings and best wishes, appealing to Allah Almighty to bestow His Mercy upon the Arab and Islamic nations. A similar cable was sent to Prince Sultan from Crown Prince Abdullah Ibn Abdul Aziz, the Deputy Prime Minister and Commander of the National Guard. The Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Fahd Ibn Abdul Aziz thanked Prince Naif Ibn Abdul Aziz, the Minister of Interior, who is also Chairman of Hajj Higher Committee, for the cable he sent him earlier to congratulate him on the unprecedented success of this year's Hajj season. In a reply cable, The Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques quoted a cable he received from Prince Naif earlier as congratulating the monarch on the end of Hajj and the unprecedented success of Hajj, thanks to God Almighty and the efforts of the government which turned the tough nature of the journey to a complete comfort and tranquillity. "Hajj environment was safe, secure and clean", King Fahd added, appealing to Allah Almighty to help the Kingdom's leadership, authorities and people to provide more and more services for the guests of God in future. A similar cable was also sent by Crown Prince Abdullah Ibn Abdul Aziz, the Deputy Prime Minister and Commander of the National Guard, to Prince Naif Ibn Abdul Aziz. Prince Sultan Ibn Abdul Aziz, the Second Deputy Prime Minister, Minister of Defense, Aviation and Inspector General, received senior officers of the Armed forces toped by the Chief of Staff General Salih Ibn Ali Al-Muhaya who congratulated Prince Sultan on Eid Al-adha. During the reception, Prince Sultan delivered a speech during which he conveyed the congratulations of the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Fahd Ibn Abdul Aziz, the Supreme Commander of the Armed Forces, and the Crown Prince Abdullah Ibn Abdul Aziz, the Deputy Prime Minister and Commander of the National Guard, on the occasion of Eid Al-adha. He added: "The policy of the Kingdom is a moderate and wise Islamic and Arab policy which does not meet the nonsense with a similar speech." "Our Islamic country prevent us from facing this matter. We always meet the matters with rational and calmness. Therefore, the stands of the King and the Crown Prince in the call for the Muslims meeting is the right call for the people to stop from the nonsense talks". Prince Sultan praised the Saudi Armed forces in all fields. He added: "I consider myself as a soldier like those soldiers in the Armed forces for I spent half of my life with you and, my God Willing, I will continue to be with you to the last day of my life". Prince Sultan stressed that the State is keen on dealing with the unemployment matter, pointing out to the fact that there is no country with no unemployment. He also pointed out to the government decision last year to set up 22 institutes and 32 vocational colleges as well as the training of the 30,000 young people for three years in the Armed forces, National Guard and Public Security. "The trainees will have the choice to stay in the Ministry of Defense or to go to any sector of their choice", he added. Prince Sultan also added: "The vocational institutes received this year 65,000 persons and we hope to eliminate the unemployment within the next five years". He stressed that the state is treating the unemployment issue with great care and said that there is no country in the world, be it advanced or undeveloped, that is free from this problem. If we compare the size of the problem with other countries we find that (our) problem is not as chronic as in other countries, he said. But this does not mean that we overlook it. The care the state gives to the unemployed is best manifested in the legislation and laws made by the concerned authorities to solve this problem by accelerating the employment of the citizens and giving them best training in many (fields) of specialization. Prince Sultan also said: "The oil price has increased and the revenue of the State has increased, so the State has allocated this increase on three matters". He also highlighted the tremendous increase in the Kingdom revenues due to the surge in international oil prices, adding that extra revenues will be used to repay public debts, enhance the health service by opening more medical colleges to overcome the dramatic shortage in the medical staff in the next 10 years and carry out developmental projects. He added: "First is the local debt which is 600 billion and we will eliminate it within three years. The second will be the medicine and it is very important to train our doctors because we have more than 30,000 or 40,000 doctors from abroad. Other revenue will be allocated to the social affairs, roads, railways, and civil aviation". Prince Sultan stressed: "All these matters will be done through a chosen committees and each will be accountable for each step". He added: "The Crown Prince is very keen and personally supervise the spending of this money". Regarding the Armed forces, Prince Sultan said: "As you know the development of the weapon do not have limit. We buy weapon, but we also buy the development of this weapon. And we always work with the superpowers whether America or Britain or France to develop our weapon as they do to their weapon". Prince Sultan pointed out that the Shoura Council will have 150 members an increase from the current number of the members which is 120. He said: "After three months there will be an improvement to the Shoura Council. The Council now is 120 members and it will be 150 members. We will chose from each region or tribe in the Kingdom and the authorities of the Council will be increased". He said the handpicked council members will also be granted wider powers but saw little benefit in holding elections to choose them. We are planning to develop the council in three months time. The Shoura Council now has 120 members and will grow to 150. There will be about 30 new members and we will choose them from every section of the kingdom, he said. No region, no tribe and no village will be unrepresented in the council and we will expand its authority, God willing, he said. He added: "We can work an election and we say that the wining percent is 99,9 but the real democracy is the eye that is awake on the service of the citizen." Prince Sultan expressed hope that the municipal election is a blessing step until the time of which the elections serve the country more than serving the individual. He pointed out to the countries, which have parties and elections, but the result is nothing and where quarrels happen among them. Prince Sultan noted that the policy of the open heart and door of the leadership of the country, adding that there is no barriers between them and citizens. Prince Sultan said the Kingdom has always been following a rational and moderate foreign policy. For that reason, he said, the Kingdom does not trade fuss with fuss and always exercises considerable restraint in responding to futile arguments . Prince Sultan said real democracy could be achieve by maintaining the country s safety and stability, besides the prosperity and welfare of its citizens. He pointed out that Islam advocates human rights. They are divine teachings and not man-made laws, he said. On his part, Chief of Staff General Salih Ibn Ali al-Muhaya delivered a speech during which he congratulated Prince Sultan on the occasion of Eid Al-adha. He pointed out to the efforts of the Armed forces to serve the pilgrims during the Hajj season of this year, highlighting the efforts of the Armed forces, the securitymen and the national guard. The reception was attended by Prince Khalid Ibn Sultan Ibn Abdul Aziz, the Assistant of the Ministry of Defense, Aviation and Inspector General for the Military affairs. On the other hand Dr. Fouad Ibn Abdul Salam Al-Farsi, the Minister of Culture and Information held at Crown Plaza hotel in Jeddah a reception party in honor of the heads and members of media delegations who were hosted by the Ministry of Culture and Information to contribute to the coverage of Hajj events to all over the world. Dr. Al-Farsi and Prince Turki Ibn Sultan Ibn Abdul Aziz, the Assistant Minister of Culture and Information, received the guests at the venue of the event. Addressing the gathering were Ameen Basyooni, President of Nile Sat company on behalf of the Arab countries delegations and Ottman Tamara, the Director of the Minister of Information of Guinea, who spoke on behalf of the African countries delegations. They lauded the services rendered to pilgrims and described this year's Hajj a complete success. They thanked the Saudi Minister of Culture and Information and his associates for the media facilities put under their disposal to help them accomplish their job in the proper way. Also addressing the elite gathering, Dr. Al-Farsi conveyed to the attendees, who represent a spectrum of Muslim thinkers, intellectuals and media representatives, the greetings of the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Fahd Ibn Abdul Aziz, 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, and their congratulations on the media success in serving the Islamic nation. Dr. Al-Farsi also expressed pleasure to welcome the media representatives as one family that has met on the grounds of love, intimacy, and well-intentions, grounds that show a distinguished performance to reach audiences and give them the real picture of Islam and Muslims who mobilize their capabilities within an approach of moderation to rehabilitate the earth. The Saudi Minister of Culture and Information reminded his audience that the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia has, since 1979, well before the events of September 2001, warned against the imminent dangers resulting from the deviant thought which calls fro extremism and terrorism which have later proved to be of no nationality, religion or country. This requires the orchestration of national, regional and international efforts to eradicate the phenomenon and to assure people of their well-being and to help them avoid the evils and unfaithfulness of the deviant groups, Dr. Al-Farsi said. The Minister of Information and Culture recalled that just recently we have all been at Arafat, Muzdalifa and Mina where we, as media people, have played our role to show the world through different media means how more than two and a half million Muslims from more than 160 nationalities have performed their rituals in tranquillity, peace, security and comfort. All were brothers walking happily side by side on this sacred soil. He said he could draw two lessons from that event: Firstly: that the media coverage which has been prepared in the most honest, professional and objective ways and orchestrated in the service of Islam and Muslims can deeply penetrate in the international arenas and reflect to the world community the finest picture of the real Islam and highlight the righteous orientation of Muslims whose majority represent moderation at its clearest meanings. Secondly: that the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, in its entirety, is enjoying, thanks to Allah Almighty, security and stability which we would like the world at large to enjoy, so that mankind could feel secure in person and for his property and honor, as is the case lived and felt by the guests of God while performing their rituals side by side. This could not have been accomplished without the help of Allah Almighty and the efforts exerted by the leadership of this country who have inherited and shouldered this honorable role, the minister said. Therefore, a dire need for a consolidated and well-bound Islamic counties seems urgent. They should refrain from the way that was advertently or inadvertently taken by some Muslim quarters, which negatively influences the path of events that should otherwise be safely secure. Hence, hopes are fastened on those who are sincere in adopting whatever policies they are about to embark on and to forge objective plans and programs that call for unity and solidarity rather than disunity, sedition, and dissident. Such an orientation will contribute to consolidating the fraternal ties and rectifying the road for tightening the internal front and confirming the purity of Islam through explaining its ramifications, objectives and goals to non-Muslims, and will also pave the way for the coming generations to deepen the roots of the language of dialogue and respect for the "other" according to the principles and instructions of the Sharia faith which is characterized by moderation, maintenance of rights, abhorance of boold-shedding killing, and rejection of terrorism and extremism, characteristics that qualify Islam as a faith appropriate for all times and places until the Day of Resurrection. My brothers, Of the many things I wanted to address, these are only few cases in point, due to time constraint. With these, I meant to remind myself first and my brothers second of the importance of more understanding of the nature of the current period the Islamic nation lives, which necessitates increasing vigilance and caution and work for strengthening constructive contacts among media specialists to face the challenges ahead through enabling cooperation and efforts. The Minister concluded by thanking those who kindly responded to his invitation to attend this event, congratulating those who performed Hajj on their personal achievement, and wishing all of them a safe return home. He also thanked the editors-in-chief of Saudi newspapers and their aides as well as the personnel of the Ministry of Culture and Information for their contributions to the coverage of Hajj events. At the end of the reception, the guests of the Ministry of Culture and Information forwarded a cable of thanks to the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Fahd Ibn Abdul Aziz, Crown Prince Abdullah and Prince Sultan Ibn Abdul Aziz for these great capabilities that have been mobilized for the service of the guests of God, and that have enabled pilgrims to perform their rituals in security, peace and comfort. They congratulated the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and its government on the success of Hajj and on the blessed Eid Al Adha, wishing the Arab and Muslim nations many well-returns. Their thanks were also extended to the Minister of Culture and Information Dr. Fouad Ibn Abdul Salam Al-Farsi and the personnel of the Ministry for attending to needs of media representatives who enjoyed their presence at Hajj areas. |
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