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February 10, 2006 |
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THE CUSTODIAN OF THE TWO HOLY MOSQUES EXPRESSES THANKS TO THE LEADERS AND PEOPLES OF THE COUNTRIES HE VISITED FOR THE HOSPITALITY HE AND THE ACCOMPANYING DELEGATION RECEIVED. THE KINGDOM JOINS INTERNATIONAL AGREEMENT ON MARITIME SEARCH AND RESCUE. PRINCE KHALID IBN SULTAN: THE PENINSULA SHIELD WILL BECOME MORE EFFECTIVE. THE KINGDOM OF SAUDI ARABIA AND THE CZECH REPUBLIC SIGN AN AGREEMENT FOR COOPERATION IN THE MEDICAL FIELD. The Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah Ibn Abdul Aziz chaired the cabinet's weekly session at Al-Yamamah palace in Riyadh. At the outset of the session, the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques briefed the council on the results of the official visits he paid to China, India, Malaysia and Pakistan and the talks he held then on bilateral relations and regional and international issues of common interest leading to the signing of a number of bilateral agreements. King Abdullah Ibn Abdul Aziz expressed thanks to the leaders and peoples of these countries for the hospitality he and the accompanying delegation received. The King said that this reflects the strength of relations between the kingdom and these countries which will be enhanced more to further bolster regional stability and peace and relations at various levels. In a statement to the Saudi Press Agency (SPA) following the session, the Minister of Social Affairs and Acting Minister of Culture and Information said that the council then expressed condolences to the families of the victims of the mishap of the Egyptian ferry "Al-Salam-98" which sank in the Red Sea. Mr. Abdul Mohsin Al Akkas said the council expressed the kingdom's hope that the current peace process in Iraq would result in the formation of a government capable of realizing the unity, territorial integrity, prosperity and freedom of Iraq away from foreign intervention. On the Palestinian issue, Mr. Al Akkas said the council wished the Palestinian people success in realizing their national interests. The Cabinet approved to add the following article to the Diplomatic and Consulate Cooperation Agreement between the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and the Kingdom of Bahrain, as suggested by the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Saudi Arabia: "Article 9: A bilateral consulate committee will be formed to enhance consulate cooperation between the two countries and to hold its meetings on rotational basis in the two countries." The Minister of Higher Education or his deputy was authorized to discuss with Comoro Islands' side a draft memorandum of understanding between the Ministry of Higher Education of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and the Ministry of Education of the Comoro Islands in the field of spreading Arabic Language, sign it and forward the final version for further authentication. According to a proposal submitted by the Minister of Finance, the Cabinet decided to extend its former decision No. 87 dated 8/4/1426 H. imposing a customs fee of 5 percent on cement, retroactive 1/12/1426 H. corresponding to January 1, 2006, provided that the State would shoulder the cost of this customs charge. The decision of extending the period of exempting imported cement from non-GCC countries from customs tariffs for one more year was taken by the Abu-Dhabi GCC 26th summit. Following the one year exemption, the decision will be enforced, the Cabinet said. The Cabinet decided that the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia join the International Agreement on Maritime Search and Rescue 1979. The Cabinet approved the appointment of Ali bin Ibrahim bin Abdul Aziz Al Bakri as Director General for Administrative and Financial Affairs at the Ministry of Economy and Planning. On the other hand The Ministry of Hajj has issued new regulations granting licenses for service providers for Umrah (minor Hajj) performers for the second term 1427 - 1431. The new regulations issued by the Haj Ministry for licensing Umrah service providers aim at reducing the number of pilgrims overstaying their visas and ending the phenomenon of pilgrims squatting in airports and public places. Dr. Eissa Rawwas, deputy minister for Umrah affairs, said the ministry would license only companies which have adequate financial and administrative capabilities to provide the service. "We'll provide Umrah visas to licensed companies in installments in order to make sure their pilgrims leave the Kingdom after performing the rituals," Dr. Rawwas said. "We'll temporarily stop the automatic visa issuance system for a foreign Umrah service agent if five percent of its pilgrims overstay in the Kingdom," the Saudi Press Agency quoted the official as saying. Saudi companies will not get access to the system if 10 percent of their pilgrims overstay in the Kingdom. The ministry issued the new regulations in order to improve services provided to some three million pilgrims who come for Umrah every year. The new regulations insisted that all service providers should bring at least 100 pilgrims. "A company will not get access to the automatic visa system if it makes use of less than 50 percent of visas issued in its name," Dr. Rawwas said. Pilgrims who have overstayed their visas in the past two years will not be given Umrah visas, he said. "The companies should consider the capacity of Saudi foreign missions in issuing visas and should not demand extra visas," Dr. Rawwas said. He said a company intending to provide package service to pilgrims must obtain permission from the ministry in order to get visas. Prince Khalid Ibn Sultan Ibn Abdul Aziz, the Assistant Minister of Defense and Aviation and Inspector General for Military Affairs, opened the Third Annual Conference for Military Medical Services entitled " Quality.. Treatment and Training". The conference is attended by officials in-charge of military medical services in member states of the Arab Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), Jordan, Egypt and Tunisia. The GCC is made up of Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Kuwait, Qatar, Bahrain and Oman. The conference was scheduled to discuss two major subjects. The first includes topics such as Electronic File and Over-crowding of patients who suffer from chronic diseases. The second includes topics like Islamic Medicine, Complementary Medicine and some Administrative topics. A flying hospital fully equipped with all facilities, including an intensive care unit, will be launched aboard a C130 aircraft at the end of February, announced Maj. Gen. Ketab Eid Al-Otaibi, director general of the armed forces medical services department. During a press conference, the major general said this would be the first of eight planned flying hospitals that will be up and running by the end of the year, which will be able to transfer patients to and from any of the country's hospitals within two hours. Al-Otaibi made his announcement during the inauguration of the Third Annual Conference of Medical Services of Military Services by Prince Khalid Ibn Sultan, Assistant Minister of Defense and Aviation, at King Faisal Hall in Riyadh. "The flying hospital was devised and designed by a team of doctors from the medical services department of the Riyadh Armed Forces. It would help patients to get medical attention without loss of time," Al-Otaibi told reporters. Standing near a model of the flying C130 hospital, Al-Otaibi said the aircraft could facilitate most emergency treatments short of dental work, including invasive surgery. In his inaugural address, Prince Khalid stressed the need for minimizing the long queues at the outpatient reception of the hospitals. He said arrangements are being made by the Medical Services Department at the Ministry of Heath to reduce paperwork by integrating all of its departments, including the pharmacies, libraries, and patients' records, into an extensive computer network. He also emphasized the importance of maintaining strict policies on patient privacy. During the scientific session on Islamic Medicine, Al-Otaibi chaired a lecture discussion on the topic. "Many aspects of medicine that we practice today were basic practices of Arab physicians," he said. "Although there is a great inter-relationship between modern medicine and some of our Islamic teachings, the criteria and characteristics of Islamic Medicine are that it is involved with divine ethics and faith in Allah as the supreme authority." Prince Khalid Ibn Sultan said that there is a plan aiming at increasing the effectiveness of the Peninsula shield forces through manoeuvres. In Washigton Saudi Ambassador Prince Turki Al-Faisal appeared on CNN Late Edition Sunday and discussed a number of issues, including allegations that Saudi Arabia was allowing money to flow from wealthy individuals to terrorists, the escape of al-Qaeda members from a Yemeni prison, the sinking of the Egyptian ferry Al-Salam 98, the Danish cartoons which have sparked protests through the Muslim world, Saudi support for the Palestinian Authority, and Saudi-US energy relations. Asked to comment on a Los Angeles Times report from last month that Saudi Arabia still allows money to flow from wealthy Saudi individuals to terrorist groups through Saudi charities and relief organizations, Prince Turki Al-Faisal said: "Saudi Arabia has implemented the cutoff. No single penny leaves Saudi Arabia today through any group or organization for any charitable or other activity at all." Prince Turki added that "all the bank accounts of all charities in Saudi Arabia have been stopped from exporting any money anywhere. Regardless of the non-formation of this commission, that is still a work in progress." The ambassador said that although there is a joint standing US-Saudi committee handling these issues, Saudi Arabia has invited U.S. Treasury officials to come and look for themselves. "Just a couple of weeks ago Stuart Levey from your Treasury Department...visited the Kingdom, and he looked at all of these measures that we have taken, and when I saw him in Riyadh, he told me that he was happy with the visit, that he would still have to review what he looked at. And we are going to get together to see what conclusions he has reached." Prince Turki took issue with the Los Angeles Times report. "Some of the rhetoric that is used, as in that [Los Angeles Times] article, I think, is offensive to us. Here is a victim who is accused of putting the knife to his throat. I think that is unfair and that if they looked at the facts then perhaps they would change their mind." Addressing the prison escape of at least 13 convicted al-Qaeda militants in Yemen, Prince Turki said in that a prison break by al-Qaeda militants was not something unique to Yemen and reminded the views that last year al-Qaeda prisons escaped from the US-run Bagram prison in Afghanistan. Prince Turki added that he has confidence that Yemeni security forces would likely capture them because the militants have nowhere to run. Asked for his reaction to the sinking of the Egyptian ferry Al-Salam 98 in the Red Sea, Prince Turki responded: "I wish I could tell you more than what you can read in the papers and hear on the radio. The investigation is ongoing. The rescue attempts are continuing. Some people have been rescued from the sea on both shores, Egyptian and Saudi, but the death toll is very high, and it is a very much a tragedy. It reminds me of a tragedy that happened several years ago as well on a similar ship that was crossing the Red Sea between the Kingdom and Egypt. And hopefully, the authorities will get to the root of this and prevent it in the future." Prince Turki said there was no indication of a problem on the ship when the ferry the Saudi port of Dhuba. He confirmed that there was bad weather in the Red Sea at the time of the tragedy. Asked how Saudis are reacting to the publication of sacrilegious cartoons of the Prophet Mohammed in the European press, Prince Turki said: "Let me just begin by saying that the cartoons are offensive. They are absolutely horrible depictions of the Prophet Mohammed, a man esteemed not just by Muslims but even by non-Muslims, and these things I think should be handled with care and with sensitivity. " "From the beginning," Prince Turki said, " I think there were on both sides, there were perhaps people entering into these issues without necessarily gauging or judging the effects of them. And on both sides, I think there must, there should be quiet and a return to talk rather than burning down or looting or stoning of buildings and so on. Prince Turki added that the Kingdom is not a country that is prone to violent public demonstrations. "The people express their views more calmly and more discreetly, and they do call up people like officials and express their views about them. There was a group of people who went to the Danish embassy in Riyadh to protest the cartoons and the Danish embassy received them, I believe, if I'm not mistaken." The ambassador told Wolf Blitzerr that there is "no danger of anybody being stoned or hauled off or lynched if that is what the fear is." Asked how cartoons in the Saudi press can similarly lampoon Jews, Prince Turki responded after seeing examples of such cartoons shown by Wolf Blitzer reportedly published by al-Yawm and al-Watan, the nature of such cartoons, while "offensive", should be looked at in light of the ongoing Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Once that conflict is resolved, such cartoons would similarly disappear from the Arab press. Asked whether Saudi Arabia will continue funding the Palestinian Authority if Hamas forms the next government, Prince Turki said the issue will be dealt with when the situation arises. For now, there is an interim Palestinian government, which the Saudis continue to support financially to the tune of around $200 million through the Arab League, and more funding through international and nongovernmental organizations. Prince Turki reiterated Saudi support for a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian situation, and that Hamas will have to go along once it assumes authority. Asked to respond to President Bush's statement during his State of the Union address of the need to end the country's "addiction to oil," Prince Turki said what actually took him by surprise in that statement was Bush's reference to "Middle East" oil, when the US imports only about 15% of its oil needs from Saudi Arabia. Prince Turki added that the statement also came as a surprise because just last year King Abdullah and President Bush had agreed on a joint oil policy in Crawford, as part of which the Kingdom would increase output and work together with the US to expand refining capacity. Prince Turki pointed out, however, that he had a positive meeting with National Security Adviser Stephen Hadley the next day on the matter, and the two countries "are talking about these issues." The Shoura Council Chairman Dr. Salih bin Homaid sent a cable of condolences to Egyptian House of the People's Speaker Dr. Ahmad Soroor on victims of the mishap of the Egyptian ferry "Al-Salam-98". He also sent a similar cable to Egyptian Shoura Council's Chairman Mr. Mohammad Safwat Al Sherif. On the other hand Prince Dr Faisal Ibn Mohammed Ibn Saud Ibn Abdul Aziz Deputy-Governor of Al Baha has thanked on behalf of Prince Mohammed Ibn Saud Ibn Abdul Aziz Governor of Al Baha, on his own behalf and on behalf of all citizens the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah Ibn Abdul Aziz and Crown Prince Sultan Ibn Abdul Aziz for the budget allocated to area this year. Minister of Health Dr. Hamad Al Manei signed a memorandum of understanding with his Czech counterpart Dr. David Rath. The memorandum of understanding aims at boosting Saudi-Czech cooperation in the fields of health and medical care. The Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques, King Abdullah Ibn Abdul Aziz received the Minister of Health of the Czech Republic David Rath and the accompanying delegation. During the audience, the minister conveyed to the king greetings of the leaders of the Czech Republic. In turn, the king sent his greetings to the leaders. The audience was attended by a number princes and officials. Crown Prince Sultan Ibn Abdul Aziz, Deputy Prime Minister, Minister of Defense and Aviation and Inspector General, received at the Royal Court at Al-Yamamah palace the Minister of Health of the Czech Republic David Rath and the accompanying delegation. During the audience, the minister conveyed to the Crown Prince the greetings of the president of the Czech Republic. In turn, the Crown Prince sent his greetings to the president. They also exchanged cordial talks and discussed issues of mutual interest. The audience was attended by a number of officials. The Minister of Health of the Czech Republic David Rath and the accompanying delegation visited this evening King Abdul Aziz Medical City of the National Guard in Riyadh. During the visit, the minister and the accompanying delegation toured the installations of the medical city and were briefed on its advanced equipment. Czech Minister of Health Dr. David Rath and the accompanying delegation visited Sultan Ibn Abdul Aziz City for Humanitarian Services in Riyadh. During the visit, the minister toured the facilities of the city and was briefed on the services it provides. Also during the visit, a cooperation agreement between the Czech Ministry of Health and Sultan Ibn Abdul Aziz City for Humanitarian Services was signed. On the other hand an influential imam of the Grand Mosque in Makkah proclaimed a new spirit of defiance among Muslims after worldwide protests over cartoons denigrating the Prophet Muhammad Peace Be Upon Him in European newspapers. "A great new spirit is flowing through the body of the Islamic Ummah... The world can no longer ignore this Ummah and its feelings," Saleh Bin-Humaid said while delivering his Friday sermon. "The nation has worked hard in support of its Prophet Muhammad in recent days. It is the right of every Muslim to show joy at this defense of our beloved Prophet," he told hundreds of thousands of faithful who packed the Grand Mosque. Bin-Humaid commended the leading role played by Saudi Arabia in campaigns protesting the provocative cartoons. The Kingdom withdrew its ambassador to Denmark, saying the government had not done enough to assuage anger over the cartoons published last September in the Jyllands-Posten newspaper. |
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