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February 4, 2005 |
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KING FAHD, PRINCE ABDULLAH AND PRINCE SULTAN PRAISE THE EFFORTS OF THE MILITARY AND SECURITY FORCES IN PRESERVING HAJJ SAFETY. The Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Fahd Ibn Abdul Aziz and Crown Prince Abdullah Ibn Abdul Aziz, the Deputy Prime Minister and Commander of the National Guard, delivered a speech to citizens, pilgrims and all Muslims on the occasion of the blessed Eid Al-Adha of this year, 1425H. The speech was delivered on television and radio by the Minister of Culture and Information Dr. Fouad Ibn Abdul Salam Al-Farsi. Following is the Full text: On this blessed occasion, we are delighted to congratulate you on the blessed Eid Al-Adha. The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, honored with the custody of the Two Holy Mosques, enjoys being in the service of pilgrims and ensuring their comfort so they perform their rituals in tranquillity, security and ease. Eid in Islam has many meanings: to show joy and satisfaction, to look after the needs of other Muslims and seek what is goof for them, to cooperate on the enhancement of good deeds, and to build bridges of mercy and sympathy with Muslims to achieve the bounds of brotherhood in Islam, and to resort to the firm tie away from extremism in a manner that expels terrorism, the plague whose ruinous nature is the very thing Islam proscribes and warns against. Let us take, as our good ideal, the Prophet, Peace Be Upon Him, and hold his Suna (tradition) and the Suna of the Caliphs after him and follow the path of the good ancestors of this nation. At the end, we repeat our congratulation to you, and we pray to God to accept pilgrims' Hajj, and pray for their safe return to their countries. Meanwhile the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Fahd Ibn Abdul Aziz received Sudan's president, Bangladesh's president and Senegal's premier who performed this year's Hajj. The audience was attended by Prince Naif Ibn Abdul Aziz, the Interior Minister, other princes and officials. The Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Fahd Ibn Abdul Aziz received senior commanders and officers of Hajj Security Forces, led by General Mahmoud Mohammed Bakhsh, Director General for General Investigations, who is also Chairman of Higher Officers Committee for Internal Security of the Ministry of Interior. Later, the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques received Iyad Madani, the Minister of Hajj, and senior ministry's officials. The two audiences were attended by Prince Naif Ibn Abdul Aziz, the Minister of Interior, who is also Chairman of Hajj Higher Committee; Prince Mohammed Ibn Naif Ibn Abdul Aziz, Assistant Minister of Interior for Security Affairs; Prince Abdul Aziz Ibn Fahd Ibn Abdul Aziz, the Minister of State, Member of the Cabinet and Chief of the Court of Cabinet's Presidency; Dr. Abdullah Ibn Abdul Mohsin Al Turki, the Secretary General of Muslim World League; and senior protocol officials. On behalf 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, received at the royal court at Mina palace a number of princes, Ulema, Shaikhs, ministers, guests of the monarch coming from the GCC member countries and commanders, senior officers and personnel of Hajj security forces who came to greet him and congratulate him on the occasion of Eid Al Ad'ha. Addressing the gathering, Crown Prince Abdullah lauded the role played by the armed forces of the Kingdom to defend the nation. The audience was attended by Prince Sultan Ibn Abdul Aziz, the Second Deputy Prime Minister, Minister of Defense and Aviation and Inspector General; Prince Nawaf Ibn Abdul Aziz, Chief of General Intelligence; Prince Naif Ibn Abdul Aziz, the Minister of Interior, who is also Chairman of Hajj Higher Committee; Prince Fawaz Ibn Abdul Aziz; Prince Abdul Majeed Ibn Abdul Aziz, the Governor of Makkah Region, who is also Chairman of Hajj Central Committee; and other princes. The guests and attendees had lunch with the Crown Prince. Prince Sultan Ibn Abdul Aziz, the Second Deputy Prime Minister, Minister of Defense and Aviation and Inspector General, received at his palace in Mina the armed forces officers taking part in the Hajj security who came to greet him and congratulate him on the occasion of Eid Al Ad'ha. During the audience, Prince Sultan lauded the efforts exerted by the armed forces officers and personnel to provide high-level services for pilgrims. He confirmed the keenness of the government of the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Fahd Ibn Abdul Aziz to serve the pilgrims, vowing to provide its utmost services for them. The audience was attended by a number of princes, Ulema, ministers and civil and military officials. Crown Prince Abdullah Ibn Abdul Aziz has directed officials to study the case of conjoined twins who were born in Hera General Hospital in Makkah. The twins, who were born to Saudi parents, share the same body but have separate heads in what was described as a rare case in the Kingdom. Prince Abdullah asked officials to explore the possibility of conducting an operation to separate the twins at the National Guard Hospital in Riyadh by a medical team led by Dr. Abdullah Al-Rabeah, the Saudi Press Agency said. Health Minister Dr. Hamad Al-Manie commended Prince Abdullah's initiative. The twins, who weigh two kilograms, have two stomachs but share an abdomen, two arms and two legs, and some internal and external organs. They each have a heart, their own respiratory system and spinal cord but it is joined at the lower back. Al-Manie described the case as rare, occurring only once in every 50,000 child births. Nine operations to separate conjoined twins have so far been performed in the Kingdom by Dr. Rabeah's team. According to Dr. Abdullah Al-Rabeah, chief paediatric surgeon at the National Guard's King Abdul Aziz Medical City in Riyadh it is impossible to separate the Saudi Siamese twins for medical and ethical reasons. But religious opinions differed on the ethics of their surgical separation. Dr. Rabeah, a pioneer in surgically separating conjoined twins, told a press conference at the National Guard Hospital in Jeddah that medical tests conducted on the twins ruled out the possibility of separating the two, who were born in Hera General Hospital in Makkah a week ago to Saudi parents. The tests were conducted on the instruction of Crown Prince Abdullah who wanted the surgeons to explore the possibility of separating Abdul Rahman and Abdul Rahim. The twins have one body, one spinal cord, two heads, two lungs and two joint hearts. One of the twins is suffering from a heart condition, with a deformity in his artery, which will be an obstacle to any attempt at surgical separation. Dr. Al-Rabeah said that this is a rare case among 28 separation surgeries carried out so far at the medical city. When contacted by Arab News, Sheikh Abdul Waheed Al-Qahtani of the Fatwa Committee said: "One of the twins should never be killed if both are in good health. If, however, one of them is in weak condition then they should be separated if that means sacrificing the life of one will help the other to live". But another scholar called for the separation of the twins for the survival of one of them even if the other may die. Sheikh Ibrahim Al-Khudair stated that a Muslim is not supposed to view another man's private parts. "Ali the fourth Caliph said that a man is not to see another man's sexual organs," said Al-Khudair. The scholar said that if it is medically acceptable then it is required that the twins must be separated even if it means the loss of one of the lives. Despite the chilly weather and drizzling in parts of the capital, the citizens and residents of Riyadh offered Eid Al-Adha prayers commemorating the spirit of sacrifice of the Prophet Ibrahim (Peace Be Upon Him). Riyadh Governor Prince Salman attended the Eid prayers at the main Dira Mosque and later exchanged greetings and good wishes with the members of the royal family, senior government officials and citizens. Eid prayers were also conducted at 56 other designated mosques in addition to Eid grounds in the capital. The theme of the sermons underlined the significance of Eid Al-Adha and the spirit of sacrifice for the cause of Allah. Addressing the congregation in the mosque in the Malaz area, the imam called on the faithful to renew their contacts with their near and dear in the spirit of Islam. According to his annual habit, the Custodian of the two Holy Mosques King Fahd Ibn Abdul Aziz Al Saud has issued his directives to distribute meals to pilgrims in Makkah, Mina, Arafat and Madinah in order to reach the largest number possible of the needy among the pilgrims. The number of meals was 8,581,825 cold and hot meals which were distributed among the Hajj campaigns in Makkah, Madinah and Hajj centres. The meals include meat, chicken, rice, cans, fruits and other kinds of food. Meanwhile, Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Fahd Ibn Abdul Aziz discussed with President Hosni Mubarak of Egypt the regional and international developments. During a telephone call the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques received from the Egyptian President, they reviewed bilateral relations. President Mubarak congratulated King Fahd Ibn Abdul Aziz on the occasion of Eid-al-Ad'ha. Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Fahd Ibn Abdul Aziz; Crown Prince Abdullah Ibn Abdul Aziz, Deputy Prime Minister and Commander of the National Guard, and Prince Sultan Ibn Abdul Aziz, Second Deputy Prime Minister, Minister of Defence and Aviation and Inspector General, have sent cables of congratulations on Eid Al Adha to leaders of the Gulf states, Arab, Islamic and friendly countries. In their cables, they wished the leaders and their peoples well on the occasion of Eid Al Adha. Crown Prince Abdullah Ibn Abdul Aziz, the Deputy Prime Minister and Commander of the National Guard, received a telephone call from President Hosni Mubarak of Egypt. President Mubarak congratulated Crown Prince Abdullah on the occasion of Eid Al-Ad'ha, and reviewed with him bilateral relations as well as the regional and international developments. Crown Prince Abdullah Ibn Abdul Aziz, Deputy Prime Minister and Commander of the National Guard confirmed that the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia has never interfered any day in any country's internal or external affairs, and that it has never harmed any body despite the harms that come from some countries. The Crown Prince added that the Kingdom has always answered the harms that it receives from these countries by kindness and tolerance. Crown Prince Abdullah Ibn Abdul Aziz, Deputy Prime Minister and Commander of the National Guard, received Prince Sultan Ibn Fahd Ibn Abdul Aziz, General President of Youth Welfare, and Mansour Al Balawi the Saudi Ittihad Club's head, officials and players. Crown Prince Abdullah received them on the occasion of Ittihad's achievement of winning the Asia's cup tournament of champion clubs recently. During the audience, the Crown Prince made a statement stressing that the deviant group will be ultimately defeated and highlighting the strength of the economy and the country. Crown Prince Abdullah Ibn Abdul Aziz talked about the newspapers which attack the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, and said that some of these Arab newspapers and not all of them attack the Kingdom out of malice and jealousy, adding that the Kingdom is steadfast like a rock, and anybody tries to confront it will face this rock at which he will hit his head till he is hurt or his head is broken. The Crown Prince explained that the country needs the determination of all its people the old and the young, adding that no body except Allah has a favour on the Kingdom, and said: ''I would like to tell you and the world knows that no one has a favour on us except God, and the friends and brothers who help us with what we want.'' ''in the financial matters or others we do not owe anyone a favour.. On the contrary you have favours on most of the countries. This is the real fact, but we don't want to mention names or anything because we consider this the duty of the Muslim towards his Muslim brother or the duty of the Muslim towards the friend,'' Crown Prince Abdullah Ibn Abdul Aziz added. The Crown Prince reiterated his sorrow on the sons of this country who are following deviant ideas and said: ''We are so sorry that they are from our sons , but what can we do, we only pray for God to guide them to the right path.'' ''But those who are overpowered by the devil we will be behind them and they will never succeed, and as we have said before we are after them for ten, twenty and thirty years till we uproot this malicious tree and those who are behind it,'' Crown Prince Abdullah Ibn Abdul Aziz said. ''Those are convinced that their works will not affect this country, You can see now the Kingdom's economy, be satisfied that this country will not be harmed and its people will not be harmed because you worship your God and your God is looking at you, your hearts and works,'' the Crown Prince added. Crown Prince Abdullah Ibn Abdul Aziz concluded his speech by calling upon all citizens not to worry about those who are jealous and they should inform about anybody they feel he wants to harm this country, adding that this is everybody's duty as every Saudi citizen should be security man. Meanwhile, Prince Sultan Ibn Abdul Aziz, the Second Deputy Prime Minister, Minister of Defence and Aviation and Inspector General, received a telephone call from President Hosni Mubarak of Egypt. The Egyptian President congratulated the Second Deputy Prime minister on the occasion of Eid Al-Ad'ha. Prince Sultan Ibn Abdul Aziz, Second Deputy Prime Minister, Minister of Defence and Aviation and Inspector General, sent a message to Yemeni Prime Minister Abdul Qadir Bajamal. The message was delivered by Saudi Ambassador to Yemen Mohammed Ibn Mirdas Al Qahtani during a meeting with Bajamal in Sanaa. Prince Sultan Ibn Abdul Aziz, the Second Deputy Prime minister, Minister of Defence and Aviation and Inspector General, received at his palace in Jeddah the British Ambassador to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia Sherard Cooper-Coles. During the meeting, the Second Deputy Prime Minister and the British Ambassador discussed many issues of common interest. On behalf of Crown Prince Abdullah Ibn Abdul Aziz, Deputy Prime Minister and Commander of the National Guard, Prince Miteb Ibn Abdul Aziz, Minister of Municipal and Rural Affairs, patronized in Makkah an event held by the Islamic Development Bank on the occasion of the 20th anniversary of the establishment of Saudi Arabian Sacrificial Meat Project. A speech ceremony was held on the occasion. The speeches focused on highlighting the work of the project and support provided to it by Saudi leaders. Upon his arrival at the venue, Prince Miteb Ibn Abdul Aziz, Minister of Municipal and Rural Affairs, was received by Head of the Bank Dr. Ahmad Mohammed Ali, members of the Adahi Committee, and the supervisor of the office of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia's project to benefit from thr Adahi meat Abdullah Al Sibali. The celebration began with reciting versus of the Quran, then Dr. Ahmad Mohammed Ali Head of Islamic Development Bank delivered a speech in which he welcomed Prince Miteb Ibn Abdul Aziz, Minister of Municipal and Rural Affairs, and thanked him for patronizing the celebration. The Head of Islamic Development Bank praised the great support 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, Prince Sultan Ibn Abdul Aziz, the Second Deputy Prime Minister, Minister of Defence and Aviation and Inspector General, Prince Miteb Ibn Abdul Aziz, Minister of Municipal and Rural Affairs, Prince Naif Ibn Abdul Aziz, the Interior Minister, the Governor of Makkah region and the government for their continuous support and care , which the Saudi Arabian Sacrificial Meat Project has enjoyed since its start in the Hajj season of 1403 AH. Then, Prince Miteb Ibn Abdul Aziz, Minister of Municipal and Rural Affairs and the attendants were shown a display about the Project's achievements since its opening in 1403 AH till now. The Project has distributed 9.772.223 heads of sheep, 117.888 heads of camels and cows in addition to 5.529.993 heads of sheep that were distributed outside the Kingdom . Meanwhile, the total of what the government of the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques has spent to establish the Project's slaughter houses has reached more than SR1 billion. Then, the Minister of Hajj Ayad Ibn Amine Madani delivered a speech in which he lauded the great efforts exerted by the Saudi Arabian Sacrificial Meat Project, and expressed his thanks and appreciation to Dr. Ahmad Mohammed Ali Head of Islamic Development Bank and all members of the Committee. He said that there is a close and continuous cooperation between the Minister of Hajj and of Islamic Development Bank in order to develop the Project and ensure the maximum comfort to the pilgrims during performing the Hajj. At the conclusion of the ceremony, Prince Miteb Ibn Abdul Aziz, Minister of Municipal and Rural Affairs delivered a speech in which he said the he was honoured by his brother Crown Prince Abdullah Ibn Abdul Aziz the Deputy Prime Minister and Commander of the National Guard to represent him in patronizing the ceremony of honouring the personalities who played a distinguish role in the success of the Saudi Arabian Sacrificial Meat Project which comes in the twentieth anniversary of its establishment. He said that this project was established by the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Fahd Ibn Abdul Aziz in 1403AH and enjoyed the continuous support and care of 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 Defence and Aviation and Inspector General. The Minister of Municipal and Rural Affairs affirmed that the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia under the leadership of the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Fahd Ibn Abdul Aziz, is happy to present the best services to facilitate the performing of the Fifth pillar of Islam. Prince Miteb Ibn Abdul Aziz also said that the Saudi government will spend every precious thing in order to build projects which serve the pilgrims and facilitate performing their hajj. Prince Miteb Ibn Abdul Aziz, Minister of Municipal and Rural Affairs said that this is an implementation of the wise policy whose foundation was based by the unifier of this country King Abdul Aziz Ibn Abdul Rahman Al Saud. In Makkah, Saudi Grand Mufti Sheikh Abdul Aziz Al Al Sheikh has said Islam forbids murder and aggression. In a lecture in Makkah on evils of attacking security men and Islam's stand toward it, he stressed Islam's teachings which urge Muslims to protect each other. The Mufti called for correction of the deviant thinking which is adopted by some and which leads to murder and mischief. |
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