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July 14, 2006 |
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***** The Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah Ibn Abdul Aziz received a message from Kuwait's Emir Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah. The message was delivered to the King by Sheikh Mohammed Al-Khalid Al-Sabah, advisor at emir's court and special envoy of the emir during an audience in Jeddah. During the meeting Sheikh Mohammed conveyed to the Monarch the greetings of the Kuwaiti Emir. In turn the King sent his greetings to the Emir. The audience was attended by minister of state and cabinet's member Abdullah Ibn Ahmad Zainal and Kuwait's Consul General Ali Ibn Ibrahim Al-Nakheelan. A royal decree has been issued approving a request by Minister of Foreign Affairs Prince Saud Al-Faisal, not to continue as a delegate member of the Administrative Council of the National Commission for wild life conservation and development (NCWCD). The decree also approved appointment of the Minister of Agriculture as a delegate member of the Administrative Council of the National Commission for wild life conservation and development. The Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah Ibn Abdul Aziz has addressed his thanks to Crown Prince Sultan Ibn Abdul Aziz, Deputy Prime Minister, Minister of Defence and Aviation Minister and Inspector General, and Chairman of the general commission of food and medicine on the occasion for the commission's efforts and the final report on a symposium of food and medicine control. King Abdullah Ibn Abdul Aziz commended the commission's efforts in its development, wishing it all success, progress and development. the audience was attended by a number of officials. The Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah Ibn Abdul Aziz has sent a cable of congratulations to Algerian President Abdelaziz Bouteflika on the occasion of his country's independence day. In his own name and on behalf of the people and government of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, King Abdullah wished the President continual good health and happiness and his people steady progress and prosperity. Similarly, Crown Prince Sultan Ibn Abdul Aziz, Deputy Prime Minister, Minister of Defence and Aviation and Inspector General has sent a cable of congratulations to the Algerian President on the occasion. The Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah Ibn Abdul Aziz will patronize the first international symposium on Computers and the Arabic language organized by King Abdul Aziz City for Science and Technology in cooperation with the Saudi Computer Society from the 25th to the 28th of March 2007. Crown Prince Sultan Ibn Abdul Aziz, Deputy Prime Minister, Defence and Aviation Minister and Inspector General, received the Executive Chairman of general commission of food and medicine Dr. Mohammed Ahmad Al-Kanhal and the commission's members. During the audience, Dr. Al-Kanhal briefed the Crown Prince on the commission's efforts and a final report on a symposium of food and medicine control. The Crown Prince commended the commission's efforts in its development, wishing it all success, progress and development. The audience was attended by a number of officials. Crown Prince Sultan Ibn Abdul Aziz, Deputy Prime Minister, Minister of Defense and Aviation and Inspector General, arrived in Jeddah coming from Assir Region. At King Abdul Aziz International airport, he received by Prince Naif Ibn Abdul Aziz, Minister of Interior, Prince Miqren Ibn Abdul Aziz, Chief of General Intelligence, Prince Mishaal bin Majed Ibn Abdul Aziz, Governor of Jeddah Province, other princes, and senior local and regional civil and military officials. Crown Prince Sultan was accompanied by a number of princes. Crown Prince Sultan Ibn Abdul Aziz, Deputy Prime Minister, Defense and Aviation Minister and Inspector General, received the German Ambassador to the Kingdom Dr.Gerhard Enver Schrombgens on the occasion of the end of his term of office in the Kingdom. Dr. Schrombgens expressed his appreciation of Crown Prince Sultan for the cooperation of the Saudi government, pointing to the distinguished Saudi-German relations. Crown Prince Sultan Ibn Abdul Aziz, Deputy Prime Minister, Defense and Aviation Minister and Inspector General, received Kazakhstan's Ambassador to the Kingdom Oskar Mosinov who bade farewell to the Crown Prince at the end of the ambassador's term of office. The ambassador conveyed to the Crown Prince the greetings of Kazakhstan's President Nursultan Nazarbayev. In turn the Crown Prince sent his greetings to the President. The audience was attended by a number of officials. Crown Prince Sultan Ibn Abdul Aziz, Deputy Prime Minister, Defense and Aviation Minister and Inspector General, received Saudi Ambassadors-Designate to a number of brotherly and friendly countries. They include Mohammad Homoud Al-Qahtani (to Greece), Ali bin Mohammad Al-Hamdan (to Yemen), Essam bin Ahmad Al-Thaqafi (to Argentine) and Sami bin Abdullah Al-Saleh (to Algiers). Crown Prince Sultan conveyed his greetings to the leaders of these countries and urged the Saudi Ambassadors-Designate to bolster relations between Saudi Arabia and these countries. On their part, Saudi Ambassadors-Designate expressed their pride for the royal trust. The Saudi Arabian Ambassador to the United Kingdom and Ireland, Prince Mohammed Ibn Nawaf, attended one of Wales' most important annual cultural events last week, the Llangollen International Musical Eisteddfod. The event, which is a world-renowned festival of music, song and dance with competitors from more than fifty countries, was opened by Prince Charles, who is the festival's patron. Prince Charles, and his wife the Duchess of Cornwall, met with the Ambassador at the Saudi tent, which had been specially set up for the event. "We're delighted that we've been invited to come here, especially in the Eisteddfod's 60th anniversary year," said the Ambassador, who was accompanied by his wife, Princess Fadwa bint Khaled, and their family. "We were also honoured that Prince Charles and the Duchess wanted to visit us in the tent. We both believe in the importance of international cultural exchange. Festivals like this are extremely important in building understanding and friendship between different peoples across the world. The Eisteddfod is a real celebration of the individuality of each country and the real desire to extend the hand of friendship between us all." Prince Mohammed was greeted on arrival at the five-day festival by Gwynn Williams, Chief Executive of the Eisteddfod. Terry Waite CBE, the Archbishop of Canterbury's former special envoy who is the festival's Honorary President, was the Ambassador's host during the event. Prince Mohammed also joined Alan Pugh, the Welsh Assembly Minister for Culture, Welsh Language and Sport, at the formal opening of the Jacobean Gardens at Plas Mawr in the walled town of Conwy on the Welsh coast. This 500-year-old house is thought to be the finest surviving town house of the Elizabethan era in the British Isles. Prince Mohammed also visited Conwy Castle and Bodnant Gardens, considered by many to be one of the finest gardens in the UK. Prince Khaled Ibn Sultan Ibn Abdul Aziz, Assistant Minister of Defense and Aviation for Military Affairs, received the British Ambassador to Saudi Arabia Sherard Cowper-Coles. They reviewed issues of mutual interest. Saudi Arabia has expressed support for Senegal's proposed postponement of the Organisation of Islamic Conference (OIC) summit, from 2007 to 2008, the Senegalese Foreign Affairs Ministry said in a statement. According to the statement, Prince Saud Al Faisal, the Saudi Foreign Minister, informed his Senegalese counterpart, Cheikh Tidiane Gadio, the reasons for the rearrangement of the summit date and "reaffirmed the Kingdom's unflinching support to Senegal." "The Prince affirmed his country's support for the organisation of the Dakar summit in the first semester of 2008," the statement said, adding that the Saudi position was expressed during Gadio`s 3-4 July visit to Saudi Arabia. "This postponement will allow for the time to implement the OIC plan of action, adopted during the December 2005 extraordinary summit n Mecca, but it is also going to give Senegal time to better prepare for the event," the statement noted. It said Gadio and the Saudi Prince also agreed to organise, in the coming days, the signing of a framework agreement on Saudi aid amounting to 32 billion FCFA, to support Senegal's preparations for the OIC summit. (500CFA francs=1USD). Senegal had mooted the idea of postponing the OIC conference, because of the extensive road rehabilitation in its capital, Dakar, and preparations for the summit. Prime Minister Dr. Ahmed Nazif met with representatives of a major Saudi Group working in the field of agricultural investments. The meeting was attended by the Ministers of Irrigation, Investment, Trade and Agriculture. The representatives of the Saudi Group expressed their wish to carry out a comprehensive agricultural project in Egypt, which includes the establishment of human settlements. The project aims at producing agricultural products both for the Egyptian market and for export. The cost of the first phase of the project will amount to 25 million USD (approximately 150 million Egyptian pounds). The Prime Minister praised the idea stressing the importance the government attaches to such comprehensive projects for several reasons. In this regard, he welcomed the investments of Arab capital in Egypt as it contributed to Arab economic integration. He further emphasized that agricultural investment was one of the Government's priorities given that projects in this field contribute to the creation of jobs, and the establishment of urban settlements, and particularly in areas South of the Valley. The Prime Minister requested the relevant authorities to examine the details of the project with the Saudi Group and the possible allocation of the requested lands and this in light of the feasibility study presented by the Group, which reflected the seriousness of its investment plans in Egypt. A scholarship agreement has been signed between the Prince Sultan University and the Sultan Ibn Abdul Aziz Al-Saud Charitable Foundation, at Prince Salman Hall at the University in Riyadh. The agreement was signed by Dr Abdul Aziz Ibn Ayaf Al Miqren, Secretary of Riyadh region and Head of the board of trustees of Prince Sultan University and Dr Majed Al Qasabi Director General of Sultan Ibn Abdul Aziz Al-Saud Charitable Foundation. According to the agreement 100 scholarship will be offered to cover fees, books registration at the University and distinguished students will receive allowances for their personal expenses. The agreement was signed in the attendance of representatives from the Sultan Ibn Abdul Aziz Al-Saud Charitable Foundation and the University. Dr Abdul Aziz Ibn Ayaf Al Miqren, Secretary of Riyadh region and Head of the board of trustees of Prince Sultan University lauded the support given to the University from Crown Prince Sultan Ibn Abdul Aziz, Deputy Prime Minister, Minister of Defence and Aviation and Inspector General and Prince Salman Ibn Abdul Aziz Chairman of the Board of Directors of Riyadh Charitable Organization to which Prince Sultan University is affiliated. He said the continuous donations given by the Crown Prince to the university on an annual basis provides great support to the students and those with special needs. He added that 50% of the scholarships at the university have been allocated to students with special needs. Six Saudis and a Yemeni escaped from Riyadh's Malaz Prison, the Interior Ministry announced. A statement from the ministry did not say when the prisoners escaped, but the ministry spokesman said it was "within a very recent time period." Security was tight near the Malaz Prison. The Riyadh police were seen erecting barricades on roads leading to the prison. Police also installed a checkpoint where anyone approaching the area was asked to show identification. "Some of them played a supporting role in deviant groups in the Kingdom," said Interior Ministry spokesman Maj. Gen. Mansour Al-Turki. He said the seven men were adherents of the takfiri ideology, a radical interpretation of Islam. The seven fugitives were identified as Abdul Aziz Abdullah Sulaiman Al-Masoud, Osamah Abdul Rahman Sulaiman Al-Wihabi, Turki Hilal Sanad Al-Mutari, Ghazi Muhasan Al-Usami Al-Utabi, Abdul Aziz Mohammed Saleh Al-Falaj, Mohammed Abdul Aziz Al-Qahtani and the Yemeni Abdul Rahman Ta'ha Al-Hatar. According to Al-Arabiya Television, Al-Wihabi is believed to have harbored the former Al-Qaeda leader in the Kingdom, Younes Al-Hayari, who figured No. 1 on the Kingdom's list of most-wanted terrorism suspects last year. He was gunned down by Saudi security forces in a raid on a villa in the capital's Al-Rawda District on July 4, 2005. The Interior Ministry said Al-Hatar was an illegal resident in the Kingdom. No information was given on the whereabouts of his wife and daughter, who the Interior Ministry said had arrived with him in the Kingdom. The men were arrested at different times last year and their cases were being investigated at the time of their escape. "Since they violated regulations, their cases will be withdrawn from the investigating committee and public prosecution and their trial procedures will be halted," said the ministry statement. "If they do not return to the detention center, they will not be eligible for the amnesty granted by the king and will become wanted by security forces." Last month Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah Ibn Abdul Aziz renewed an amnesty he first offered for a one-month period two years ago. The ministry warned against aiding and abetting the fugitive and urged anyone with information to call 990 or inform local officials. The General director of Prisons Dr Al Ibn Hussein Al-Harthy unveiled that the number of prisoners released after the pardon granted by the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah Ibn Abdul Aziz has reached 2600. He added that the authorities are still studying the cases of personal rights, and accordingly prisoners who are eligible will be released. With reference to what had been reported by some information media that the American embassy in Pakistan has circulated a statement in which it disclosed the arrest of Adnan Shoukri Joumah and described him as a Saudi national and that he is the most important one in Al-Qaeda group, the security spokesman of the Saudi Ministry of Interior confirmed that the person mentioned in the statement is not a Saudi national and that he was a resident in the Kingdom before his departure along with his parents who are also not Saudis and had left the Kingdom before 20 years at a time when his (Adnan) age was only 11 years. A Yemeni state security court yesterday acquitted 19 men, including five Saudis, of plotting bomb attacks against Americans in Yemen, citing lack of sufficient evidence. "The prosecution failed to provide sufficient evidence that the five Saudis and 14 Yemenis were part of an armed group planning attacks against Americans in Yemen or those who deal with them," said presiding Judge Mohammed Al-Baadani in his verdict. When the trial began Feb. 22, the men were charged with planning to attack US citizens in Yemen on orders from the Al-Qaeda leader in Iraq, Jordanian Abu Musab Al-Zarqawi, who was killed in a US air strike on an Al-Qaeda safe house in Iraq last month. Prosecutors said the men had planned to bomb locations frequented by Americans living in Yemen, including a five-star hotel in the southern port city of Aden. They said some of defendants had fought alongside militants in Iraq and that they returned from Iraq after Zarqawi gave them orders to carry out attacks in Yemen. All the defendants pleaded not guilty to the charge of planning to target US citizens in Yemen, but six admitted to having fought US forces in Iraq. The five Saudis are Muhssein Mubarak ibn Ubaid, 19, Muhammad Falah Al-Qahtani, 22, Saad Abdul-Ghani Al-Baloushi, 26, Muhammad Musaifir Al-Quraishi, 27, and Majid Ahmad Al-Zahrani, 30. They told the court that they had been arrested as they arrived in Yemen in January 2005 on their way to Iraq to join insurgents there. Reading out the verdict, the chief judge said the men "should not have been prosecuted for their intention to go for Jihad (holy war)." He added that the men were either outside Yemen or being detained in the country during 2004 and 2005 and, therefore, could not have jointly planned attacks. Prosecutor Khaled Al-Mawri rejected the verdict and said the prosecution would appeal it. The FBI has discovered a terrorist plot to bomb New York's Holland Tunnel and flood the Wall Street financial district. The FBI said it thwarted preliminary plans by a group with possible ties to Abu Musab Al-Zarqawi, the slain leader of Al-Qaeda in Iraq. The city's Holland Tunnel was apparently the target of the attack by the terrorists who wanted to blow it up in an effort to flood Lower Manhattan, the financial heart of the Big Apple. The plotters also allegedly discussed attacking subways in the city and other tunnels. The 79-year-old tunnel runs under the Hudson River between New Jersey and Manhattan and carried almost 34 million vehicles in 2005. The plot would have involved a suicide bombing on a subway tunnel, an FBI official said. "This is a plot that would have involved martyrdom, explosives and certain of the tubes that connect New Jersey with Lower Manhattan. We're not discussing the modality beyond that," Mark Mershon, assistant director-in-charge of the FBI New York Field Office, told a news conference. The FBI said it had identified eight "principal players" involved in the plot. Three of them have been taken into custody overseas. "We have them largely identified," Mershon said. Only one, a Lebanese national described as the "mastermind" of the plot has been formally charged, Mershon added. Lebanon said it arrested Amir Al-Andalousi, the alleged mastermind. "After questioning he confessed... that he was planning to travel to Pakistan for four months training and that the date for the attack was decided to be late in 2006," a Lebanese Interior Ministry statement said. FBI agents said they monitored Internet chat rooms used by extremist groups and discovered the plot. The flooding in New Orleans from Hurricane Katrina reportedly inspired the idea. It's unclear how far along the planning for the alleged scheme was, but unidentified counterterrorism officials cast doubt on the plot to flood the financial district, saying that the Holland Tunnel is below ground and protected by bedrock, concrete and cast-iron steel, the Daily News said. The experts also said the plan was unfeasible as even if the tunnel were to crack, the financial district is above the level of the Hudson River. Facing continuing violence in the Gaza Strip, the U.N. Secretary-General called on the Security Council to adopt a clear position on the issue. In a statement issued last Friday, Secretary-General Kofi Annan, who is in Berlin, also called on Israelis and Palestinians to cease provocations against one another. "As the situation in Gaza continues to deteriorate, I appeal again to both sides to pull back from the brink for the sake of all civilians in the region," Annan said. The secretary-general urged Israel to halt its "disproportionate use of force" and Palestinians to release the kidnapped Israeli soldier and to stop the firing of rockets into Israeli-controlled territories. A German citizen accused of being an al-Qaeda agent has been arrested, prosecutors say. The Moroccan-born man was detained by police from Hamburg - the city where al-Qaeda planned the 9/11 attacks. The man, named only as Redouane EH, 36, is accused of having ties to a suspected key 9/11 planner who fled Germany a week before the attacks. Federal prosecutors also accuse Redouane EH of recruiting al-Qaeda suicide bombers in Iraq. "He is strongly suspected of recruiting militants for the foreign terrorist organisation al-Qaeda in order to carry out suicide bomb attacks in Iraq and of supporting it with monetary payments," a prosecutors' statement said. The statement also says he has "numerous contacts with an international network of Jihadists" in Syria, Algeria, Iraq and elsewhere. "At the end of November 2005, he completed explosives training at a camp operated by a terrorist network in Algeria," the statement said. He aroused the suspicion of the authorities partly though conversations he had in internet chat rooms, the statement said. Redouane EH is not accused of any involvement in the 9/11 plot, prosecutors say. But he is believed to have carried messages for Said Bahaji, a suspected key member of the Hamburg cell, who fled Germany shortly before the 9/11 attacks and remains at large. Mr Bahaji has been charged in his absence in connection with several thousand murders committed in the attacks. Prosecutors say they believe Redouane EH was ferrying messages between Mr Bahaji and his wife, who still lives in Hamburg. Redouane EH was detained in the northern city of Kiel, where a number of properties were searched as part of the operation. Prosecutors say there is no evidence Redouane EH was planning any attacks within Germany. But a spokeswoman said he was detained after prosecutors believed he might have been planning to leave Germany. Saudi Arabian Airlines will start operating direct flights to Oska (Japan) and Hong Kong Airports from July 15. SAUDIA'S Assistant Director General for Passengers and Sales Services Abdulrahman Al-Mahboub said that the flights will increase further economic and tourism relations between the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and the two countries, noting that the new flights will raise the number of Saudia's air terminals in Asia to 17. Sultan Qaboos Bin Saeed of Oman received a letter from his Kuwaiti counterpart the Emir Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah. The letter was conveyed to Sultan Qaboos by Emiri Diwan Undersecretary Sheikh Mohammad Al-Khalid Al-Sabah. The meeting was attended by Omani Cultural Affairs Consultant Abdulaziz Bin Mohammad Al-Rawas and the Kuwaiti Ambassador to Oman Sheikh Faisal Al-Hmoud Al-Malik Al-Sabah. Ambassador Faisal Al-Sabah told KUNA that the the Emir's letter is part of the Gulf coordination and cooperation schemes executed through visits. He said that the Kuwaiti delegation's visit to Oman is in the framework of the strong Kuwaiti-Omani relations and their joint cooperation aiming at developing the region. Undersecretary Sheikh Mohmmad Al-Khalid Al-Sabah departed from Oman after a two-day visit that ended his tour of the Gulf that included Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Qatar, and the United Arab Emirates in which he conveyed letters and messages of the Emir to leaders of Gulf countries. The new Kuwaiti cabinet proposed by the Prime Minister Sheikh Nasser Al-Mohammad Al-Ahmad Al-Sabah was reviewed and approved, as it is, by the Emir Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah. The Emir issued an Emiri decree on the appointment of the ministers under Sheikh Nasser as Prime Minister, as previously decreed July 2nd, 2006, and decreed the line-up be effective as of today and that it be reported in the official gazette. The new line-up is as follows: Jaber Mubarak Al-Hamad Al-Sabah: First Deputy PM and Minister of Interior and Minister of Defense Dr. Mohammad Sabah Al-Salem Al-Sabah: Deputy PM and Minister of Foreign Affairs Dr. Ismail Khudher Al-Shatti: Deputy PM and Minister of State for Cabinet Affairs Ahmad Abdullah Al-Ahmad Al-Sabah: Minister of Health Bader Mishari Al-Humaidhi: Minister of Finance Bader Nasser Al-Humeidi: Minister of Public Works and Minister of State for Housing Affairs Sabah Al-Khaled Al-Hamad Al-Sabah: Minister of Social Affairs and Labor Dr. Adel Taleb Al-Tabtabaei: Minister of Education and Minister of Higher Education Dr. Abdullah Al-Matouq: Minister of Justice and Minister of Awqaf and Islamic Affairs Abdullah Saud Al-Mhailbi: Minister of State for Municipal Affairs Abdelhadi Abdelhameed Al-Saleh: Minister of State for National Assembly Affairs Ali Jarrah Al-Sabah: Minister of Energy Falah Fahad Mohammad Al-Hajri: Minister of Commerce and Industry Mohammad Nasser Al-Sanousi: Minsiter of Information Dr. Massouma Saleh Al-Mubarak: Minister of Communications. |