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June 23, 2006 |
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***** The Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah Ibn Abdul Aziz received at his palace in Jeddah Frances Fragos Townsend Assistant to the US President for Homeland Security and Counterterrorism and her accompanying delegation. During the meeting, she conveyed to the Monarch the greetings of US President George W. Bush. In turn, the King sent his greetings to the President. the audience was attended by Prince Bandar Ibn Sultan Ibn Abdul Aziz, Secretary General for National Security Council; Prince Mohammed Ibn Naif Ibn Abdul Aziz, Assistant Minister of Interior for Security Affairs; Adel Ibn Ahmed Al Jubeir, Advisor at the Royal Court; and James Oberwetter, US Ambassador to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. The Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah Ibn Abdul Aziz has addressed a reply message to the Minister of Social Affairs and Chairman of the National Committee for the care of prisoners thanking him, the released prisoners and their families for their feelings towards the King for his generous decree concerning the release of prisoners. King Abdullah had issued orders to pay for detainees of special rights who should pay debts or blood money and ordered to pardon prisoners of a public right detained and convicted in all jails in the Kingdom's regions on the occasion of the King's tour of a number of the Kingdom's regions. The statement said that payment will be settled for financially incapable detainees of special rights. It stipulates that the debtors should neither be procrastinating nor manipulating finances of persons. As to the pardon granted to some of detainees of a public right, the order exempted those who have committed great crimes and those who pose a danger to security. This royal gesture includes Saudis and expatriates to unify the detainees' families, the statement said and added that the King is confident that this humanitarian gesture will be as an impetus for reforming themselves and avoiding the occurrence of such acts. On their part, the released prisoners have expressed their gratitude to King Abdullah Ibn Abdul Aziz for his generous initiative praying Allah to reward him. The Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques, King Abdullah Ibn Abdul Aziz received the annual report of Madinah-based King Abdullah Endowment for his Parents. The report was handed over to King Abdullah by Prince Khaled Ibn Abdullah Ibn Abdul Aziz, Chairman of Board of Trustees of the endowment, Prince Bandar Ibn Salman Ibn Mohammad Al-Saud, advisor of King Abdullah, and members of the board of trustees. The meeting was attended by a number of Princes and senior Saudi officials. The Ambassador of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia to the United States, Prince Turki Al-Faisal hosted a dinner party in honor of members of the Arab-American Anti-discrimination Commission on the occasion of opening its annual conference in Washington. The party was attended by a number of Arab, Muslim and foreign ambassadors accredited to the US in addition to a number of American officials who are interested in Arab-American relations. At the outset of the party, Prince Turki welcomed the commission members and expressed his appreciation for the efforts exerted by the commission in enhancing Arab-American relations, wishing them success in their conference. In the presence of Prince Mohammed Ibn Nawaf Ibn Abdul Aziz, Ambassador of the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques to the United Kingdom and Ireland, Professor Robert Mabro, Fellow of St Antony's College, Oxford and former director of the Oxford Institute for Energy Studies, delivered a lecture on the latest developments in the international energy markets at the Royal Saudi Embassy in London. Prince Mohammed Ibn Nawaf Ibn Abdul Aziz delivered a speech in which he welcomed Professor Mabro, and noted that the lecture is part of the Embassy's outreach programme to enhance bilateral relations between the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and the United Kingdom. He said the programme includes a number of informative sessions about the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and its development. Professor Mabro then delivered a lecture that dealt with the latest developments in the field of energy and especially the international oil market. He said the Kingdom plays an important role in the stability of the international oil markets. The British House of Lords, the highest court, rejected a suit against the Saudi government submitted by Ron Jones, Sandy Mitchell, Les Walker and William Sampson, who were detained in Saudi Arabia. In a statement to SPA, Prince Mohammad Ibn Nawaf, Ambassador of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia to the UK and Ireland said that the principles are well entrenched in British law and as such the judgment of the House of Lords does not come as a surprise in a country known for its fair legal system and respect for the rule of law. Prince Mohammad added that the decision is in accordance with accepted principles of international law and is consistent with the position taken by the Kingdom since these claims were first made. He went on to thank the legal team that represented the Kingdom in the case. He also said in a statement released by the Saudi embassy that Jones appealed to the House of Lords against a ruling that had dismissed a suit against the Saudi government. He added that the government of Saudi Arabia appealed to the House of Lords against a ruling by the Court of Appeal on the 28th of October 2004 which had enabled the four complainants to sue Saudi officials. After presenting legal briefs and after listening to all parties, the British House of Lords rejected the ruling that had enabled the four complainants to sue Saudi officials and this comes in accordance with the legal law of immunity of countries that have legitimate sovereignty including the officials who represent these countries. Prince Mohammad considered this an important judgment that serves the interest of the international community and it respects and protects the right of every legitimate sovereign state to govern within its own borders and it does not give the right to any country to interfere in any others' affairs. The Shoura Council started at its 24th ordinary session under the chairmanship of its chairman Dr. Salih Ibn Abdulah Ibn Homaid to tackle the annual performance reports of a number of governmental bodies. After having listened to a report on the Shoura Council's delegation trip to Abuja, Nigeria to take part in the conference of Senate, Shoura and similar chambers in Africa and the Arab World, the members discussed reports on the performance of the Ministry of Petroleum and Mineral Reports and the Ports Authority. As part of the ongoing discussions on the latest Arab and regional developments, the Egyptian- Jordanian summit that was held in Sharm El Sheikh Sunday18/6/2006 between President Mubarak and King Abdullah II, focused on the Palestinian cause, with emphasis on means to defuse tension between Hamas and Fatah in order to stop inter-Palestinian clashes, the Iraqi issue, and other Arab issues of common concern. The two-hour talks reviewed the Arab issues, disagreements hindering joint Arab action and President Mubarak's efforts to narrow the gap in viewpoints vis-à-vis Arab issues. Following the summit talks, Foreign Minister Ahmed Abul- Gheit and his Jordanian counterpart Abdel Elah Al Khatib held a press conference during which Abul Gheit said that Jordanian Syrian relations face no problems. The Jordanian Foreign Minister said talks reflected the depth of the Jordanian-Egyptian relations and the political will on the part of both leaders to coordinate stances and promote joint Arab action. The Jordanian Minister said that the two countries were firmly determined to confront the challenges facing the region, referring to the need for supporting the Palestinians as an initial step to revive negotiations with Israel. Saudi Basic Industries (SABIC) confirmed it was in talks with China's Sinopec on a petrochemical plant deal worth more than $1 billion. Chinese officials said earlier this year that SABIC, one of the world's 10 largest petrochemical firms, would resume negotiations with Sinopec Corp. to build a major ethylene complex in China. SABIC, which has not previously commented on the project, has been looking at investing in China's fast-expanding petrochemical sector for years but has yet to land a concrete deal. Asked how much the deal would be worth, SABIC chief executive Mohamed al-Mady told reporters: "Any deal (in China) these days is worth more than $1 billion." "We are talking with China Petrochemical though a deal hasn't materialised yet," he said. "It could be in the region of $1 billion.'' Al-Mady said negotiations were under way, but declined to give a timeframe. "Deals in China are not concluded in days," he said. King Mohammed VI of Morocco received a verbal message from Sultan Qaboos bin Said on relations between the two countries and ways of improving them in different fields. The message was conveyed by Yousuf bin Alawi bin Abdullah, minister responsible for foreign affairs, when he was received by King Mohammed in the Royal Palace in Tangier. Alawi conveyed the Sultan's greetings and best wishes of good health and happiness to King Mohammed and the Moroccan people for further progress and prosperity. The Moroccan monarch, in turn, asked Alawi to convey his greetings and best wishes to the Sultan and the Omani people further progress and prosperity under his wise leadership. The meeting reviewed relations between the two countries and the latest developments at the Arab and international levels. The meeting was attended by Ahmed bin Yousuf Al Harthi, head of the Arab Department at the Foreign Ministry and Abdullah bin Mohammed Al Farsi, Sultanate's ambassador to Morocco. From the Moroccan side, Mohammed bin Essa, minister of foreign affairs and cooperation attended it. Dr. Salih Ibn Abdullah Ibn Homaid, Chairman of the Shoura Council, received in Riyadh the Speaker of Kazakhstan's Senate Noortae Apigaiv who handed him a message to the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah Ibn Abdul Aziz from President Sultan Nazar Baiv of Kazakhstan. Then they discussed matters of mutual concern to the two countries. During the meeting, the Kazi official thanked the Kingdom for contributing $15 million to the cost of building a new headquarters for the parliament in Kazakhstan. The meeting was attended by delegations of the two parties. The Supreme Commission for Tourism (SCT) has announced that 80 percent of the lodging sector will be Saudized during the next five years under a plan drawn up by SCT and approved by Minister of Labor Ghazi Al-Gosaibi. The program would be implemented in stages, beginning with the five-star hotels and tourist resorts. The second phase will focus on nationalizing jobs in furnished apartments. The SCT launched its Saudization drive with the travel and tourism sector, where it hopes to achieve the target of 81 percent during the next three years. The training program for the first batch will kick off in September. The targeted areas include the travel and tourism sector, the accommodation sector (hotels and furnished apartments), tourist resorts, traditional handicrafts as well as Hajj and Umrah operators, where expatriates constitute the majority of the work force. An agreement was signed by the UNESCO representative and Palestinian universities representatives to deliver to them the Saudi grant presented by the Saudi Committee for the Relief of the Palestinian People for Palestinian students. Informed Palestinian sources said Basheer Lasin, Director of the project at the UNESCO and a number of Palestinian universities' directors signed the agreement. The Saudi grant provides $2 million for Palestinian universities to help them overcome the difficulties resulting from the Israeli siege and closure of the Palestinian territories. The Saudi Committee for the Relief of the Palestinian People, headed by Prince Naif Ibn Abdul Aziz, the Minister of Interior, has implemented more than 35 programs to assist the Palestinian people at a cost of around SR730 million. Russian President Vladimir Putin took a swipe at the US military presence in central Asia, while defending a regional security group that some critics have seen as a rival to NATO. Referring to Washington's loss of a military base that Uzbekistan ordered closed last autumn, Putin likened the US approach in the region to that of a "bull in a china shop", saying the closure was not at all surprising. "We call on everyone to be very careful and allow each country to develop in a natural way," the Russian leader told journalists at an informal gathering after a summit of the six-nation Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO). He rejected claims that the Shanghai group -- which focuses on security issues and economic cooperation -- was emerging as a rival military bloc to the Western-led North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO). "It's not a military bloc, it's open to all," he said. In Brussels European Union leaders put off until 2008 the hard decisions on what do with the bloc's stalled constitution, thrown out last year by French and Dutch voters. Split on the fate of the charter, prime ministers and presidents decided instead to push ahead with projects they hope will restore the credibility of the EU, for example in a more coordinated energy policy and on asylum. "They don't want to run the risk of a second failure," European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso said of the decision to leave the treaty's fate in the balance. He called for an end to speculation over whether the treaty was dead. The constitution needs approval of all the EU's 25 members to take effect. A majority of countries see it as vital to reforming the overloaded institutions of the steadily growing bloc. But a minority would prefer to ditch it. "We prolonged the period of reflection precisely because we have not got any solutions for getting out of this," said French President Jacques Chirac. After two years work, the independent international Weapons of Mass Destruction Commission, WMDC, chaired by Hans Blix has put forward a number of concrete proposals on how the world could be freed of nuclear, biological and chemical weapons. The report entitled "Weapons of Terror" analyses the threats under which the world is living today - above all, 27 000 nuclear weapons and efforts by individual states and perhaps terrorist groups to develop or obtain different kinds of weapons of terror. The report discusses how these threats and risks can be addressed. The Commission's 14 members from all continents state that common global efforts to achieve arms limitation and disarmament have stagnated. After 50 years of cold war, we even see the risk of arms races involving new types of nuclear weapons, space weapons and missiles. It is high time to revitalise global cooperation on disarmament and the Commission presents a list of 60 recommendations. At the top are the recommendations that all governments must accept the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty that was agreed ten years ago, that states currently possessing nuclear weapons must reduce their arsenals and that they must stop producing plutonium and highly enriched uranium for more nuclear weapons. The world must aim at achieving a ban on both possession and use of nuclear weapons, in the same way as bans that apply to biological and chemical weapons. All states - even the great powers - must prepare to live without nuclear weapons and other weapons of terror. As part of a new, concerted effort, the Commission proposes that a world summit be called at the United Nations in New York on disarmament, non-proliferation and terrorist use of weapons of mass destruction. The summit should also discuss and decide on reforms to make the UN disarmament apparatus more effective. To break the deadlocks at the Conference on Disarmament in Geneva, the Commission proposes that unanimity should no longer be required for issues to be put on the agenda, but that a two-thirds majority should suffice. "Existing international treaties have shown weaknesses. At the same time, a policy based on unilateralism and military actions has failed and has been costly in terms of lives and resources. Efforts to jointly create global security must now be intensified. All states - especially those with nuclear weapons - have a responsibility and must take part in the process," says Hans Blix. The Commission's 14 members have unanimously endorsed the report which, after having been presented to the UN Secretary-General in New York on 1 June, will be presented to governments, non-governmental organisations and the general public around the world. The U.S. military revealed for the first time a photo of the man said to be the new leader of al Qaeda in Iraq. The military said the picture showed Egyptian-born Abu Ayyub al-Masri, a senior al Qaeda in Iraq operative believed to have taken over the terror network after the killing of Abu Musab al-Zarqawi. The Defense Intelligence Agency declassified the photograph on Wednesday at the U.S. military's request, said U.S. military spokesman Maj. Gen. William Caldwell at a news conference in Baghdad, adding that he had no idea how the DIA got the photo. Al-Masri "has been a terrorist since about 1982, beginning with his involvement in the Egyptian Islamic Jihad, which was led by Zawahiri," said Caldwell. Ayman al Zawahiri is al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden's top deputy. Caldwell described al-Masri as "an explosives expert, specializing in the construction of vehicle-borne improvised explosive devices." He also said al-Masri spent time training with terrorists in Afghanistan starting in 1999. After U.S. forces ousted Afghanistan's Taliban regime in late 2001, al-Masri began to work with al-Zarqawi in Falluja "and then later became, we think, basically the emir of southern Iraq" for the group, Caldwell said. Al-Masri's "intimate knowledge" of the terrorist network will help al Qaeda in Iraq "regain some momentum if, in fact, he is the one that assumes the leadership role," Caldwell said. The military believes al-Masri is also known as Sheikh Abu Hamza al-Muhajer, who was named last week as al-Zarqawi's replacement on a Web site used by al Qaeda in Iraq, Caldwell said. "We'll continue to do further analysis," Caldwell added, noting that a power struggle may still be under way inside al Qaeda in Iraq. A conference on national reconciliation in Iraq, due to have opened on June 22, has been postponed until the first week of August, the Arab League said. "After talks, we have decided to set up a commission composed of representatives of the political parties," the deputy secretary-general of the Arab League, Ahmed Ben Hilli of Algeria, told journalists. "The commission will convene on July 1 to prepare for the conference, which will be held here in Baghdad during the first week of August," he said. The Arab League-sponsored reconciliation conference had been due to be held earlier this year, but was put off amid protracted talks on forming a new government after December's parliamentary elections. "We came to the conclusion that everyone wants more time to prepare for the conference, and to be sure that it will produce results," Ben Hilli added. He held lengthy talks with Iraqi politicians, and said there had been agreement on a commission to prepare for the conference to a precise timetable, in collaboration with the Arab League and the United Nations. "The conference must take place because the more the violence escalates, the more urgent it becomes to have the conference," Arab League chief Amr Moussa said. International sponsors of a stalled Middle East peace plan agreed to channel aid to cash-starved Palestinians for health care, utilities and social services, while continuing a boycott of the Hamas-led Palestinian government. The United States went along with a compromise plan to send mostly European money through the World Bank for services and to pay stipends directly to poor people in the Palestinian territories, the Associated Press reported. Establishment of the fund is an acknowledgment that an international aid freeze imposed after the surprise election victory of Hamas in January has had unintended and harsh consequences for ordinary Palestinians. The EU was considering an initial allocation of about $126 million (euro99.6 million), spokeswoman Emma Udwin said. She said the EU wants to have the funding mechanism in place by early July. The Pentagon confirmed that 2,500 U.S. troops have died in the Iraq war since it began more than three years ago. While there were no details on who it was or where the 2,500th death occurred, it underscored the continuing war in Iraq just after President Bush returned from a surprise visit to Baghdad determined that the tide was beginning to turn. According to the Pentagon totals, there have been 1,972 service members killed in action in Iraq, and another 528 died from other non-hostile causes. There also have been 18,490 troops wounded in action, including 8,501 who did not return to duty. After hearing detailed briefings on Iraq, the United Nations Security Council welcomed the formation of the country's first constitutionally-elected Government, which was completed earlier this month, agreed upon the continuation of the Multinational Force (MNF) and also on certain arrangements for a Development Fund (DFI) and an International Advisory and Monitoring Board for the war-ravaged country. In a press statement, the 15-member Council also "urged all Iraqis to participate peacefully in the political process and demanded that those who use violence lay down their arms." "They reiterated their encouragement to the new Government to work tirelessly to promote national reconciliation and an atmosphere in which sectarianism is rejected," and the Council also "welcomed the progress made in recruiting, training and equipping Iraqi security forces and their increasing responsibilities on the ground." "Members of the Security Council continued to look forward to the day Iraqi forces assume full responsibility for the maintenance of security and stability in Iraq, thus allowing the completion of the MNF mandate. They also reiterated the importance for all forces promoting the maintenance of security and stability in Iraq to act in accordance with international law, including obligations under international humanitarian law." In her briefing to the Council, Assistant Secretary-General for Political Affairs Angela Kane acknowledged the killings and instability in the country, but said that despite this Iraq had completed a three-year political transition with the formation of its first constitutionally-elected Government and this was cause for some optimism. "While it may be understandable that, due to their transitory character, previous Governments were unable to take some of the hard decisions required to address the urgent needs of the Iraqi people, the establishment of a constitutionally-elected Government for a full four-year term offers new hope," she said. Ms. Kane said that over the past three years Iraq's transition had moved from the Governing Council to the Interim Government and the Transitional Government, culminating with Iraq's first constitutionally-elected Government led by Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki. The other officials who also spoke to the Council painted a similar picture, with United States Ambassador John Bolton speaking on behalf of the 29 countries making up the Multinational Force in Iraq and the country's Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari, also acknowledging the difficult and dangerous security situation. In his comments, Ambassador Bolton highlighted that the latest reporting period included the killing on 7 June of al-Qaida leader Abu Musab al-Zarqawi and one of his key associates, Sheikh abd Al-Rahman, although he said the organization still posed a threat. "The measure of success will be the dawn of the day when the Iraqi people are fully able to secure their own safety, freedom and prosperity," he said. In his briefing to the Council, Iraq's Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari also highlighted al-Zarqawi's killing but added that security operations must go hand in hand with initiatives to promote national consensus, tolerance, justice and respect for human rights. "With the formation of the new full-term Government and recent elimination of the most notorious terrorist, al-Zarqawi, we sense great momentum among the Iraqi people, and a very real chance to turn our situation around," he told the Council members. "This is the beginning of a new chapter in Iraq's transformation from dictatorship to a sovereign, peaceful and prosperous federal democracy as voted by the Iraqi people." Citing continuing tension in the Middle East, the United Nations Security Council extended the mandate of the long-running peacekeeping force observing the ceasefire between Israeli and Syrian forces in the Golan Heights for a further six months until 31 December, its thirty-third year of operations. The 15-member Council voted unanimously on the extension, which was called for last week by Secretary-General Kofi Annan in his latest report on the region in which he said the continued presence of the UN Disengagement Observer Force (UNDOF), which began operation in May 1974, was "essential." Mr. Annan also said the Middle East was "very tense and is likely to remain so, unless and until a comprehensive settlement covering all aspects of the Middle East problem can be reached," a view that the Council said in a related presidential statement reflected its own opinion of the region. Syria and Israel have consented to the extension of the mission, which was due to expire at the end of this month. In making his recommendation for UNDOF's extension, the Secretary-General noted that there was a budget gap, with unpaid dues amounting to some $33.8 million representing money owed to the Member States that contribute the troops who make up the Force. Saudi Arabia has donated USD 2.6 million to purchase food for 50,000 Palestinian families, said the United Nations World Food Program (WFP).The Saudi Committee for the Relief of Palestinians has donated the funds to Dubai-based WFP regional office to purchase nearly 5,000 metric tons of food, enough to feed 300,000 Palestinians. The 100-kilogram Saudi relief food basket will include wheat flour, pulses, vegetable oil, sugar and salt. "Saudi Arabia has been very generous in supporting WFP operations in the Horn of Africa, Pakistan and now in the occupied Palestinian territory as well, " said WFP Executive Director James Morris. Abdul Aziz Arrukban, WFP's Special ambassador and the first Saudi citizen to volunteer with the UN food aid agency, said after attending a ceremony with the Saudi Committee in Riyadh that this is not the first time that the Committee has provided support for WFP efforts in Palestine. UN chief Kofi Annan said the government of Iran is looking "seriously" at a new international offer of incentives for Tehran to give up uranium enrichment. "We do have an opportunity to really move ahead and resolve this issue diplomatically," Annan said in Copenhagen after a meeting with Danish Prime Minister Anders Fogh Rasmussen."In my own contacts with the Iranians I consider that they are taking this offer seriously. They are studying it and I hope they will respond in the not-distant future." Annan said diplomacy was the only solution to the standoff between Iran and the international community over its nuclear programme, which the United States and others believe is a covert effort to build atomic weapons. "I hope that they will come and sit around the table and find a solution and in my judgment, the only solution is a negotiated one," he said. Jordan's King Abdullah II, in a meeting with President Mahmoud Abbas, urged Palestinians and Israelis to renounce violence and resume peacemaking. In a separate message to Palestinians, King Abdullah called for an end to feuding between Abbas' Fatah faction and Hamas, which holds a majority in the Palestinian parliament. King Abdullah told the Palestinian President he was concerned about «security and economic deterioration in the Palestinian territories and called on all sides ... to unify ranks and overcome the different challenges facing the Palestinian people,» according to a statement from Jordan's royal palace. The king also briefed Abbas about his June 8 meeting in Amman with Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, the statement said. Abbas is expected to meet with Olmert in the coming days, the associated press reported. King Abdullah stressed the importance of «ceasing military escalation, in order to have calm prevail between Palestinians and Israelis and to create a suitable climate for building confidence between both sides and ensure a swift return to the negotiating table,» the statement said. King Abdullah later arrived in the Egyptian Sinai resort of Sharm El-Sheik, where he opened talks with Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak, Jordan's state Petra news agency reported. It said the Arab leaders would discuss ways to calm tensions in the Palestinian territories and ensure that badly needed international aid reaches the Palestinian people. In his talks with Abbas, King Abdullah said responsibility rested on the international community to «ensure the flow of international assistance to the Palestinian territories to prevent a humanitarian crisis there.» |