|
|
January 19, 2007 |
|
||
|
|
|
|
||
|
|
|
***** The Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques, King Abdullah Ibn Abdul Aziz has thanked Minister of Hajj Dr. Fouad bin Abdul-Salam Al-Farsi for his cable which was sent to the King on behalf of the heads of Hajj missions and the participants of a major Hajj symposium for this year. In their cable, the Heads of Missions congratulated the King on the occasion of Eid Al-Adha as well as for the success of the current Hajj season. In his cable of reply to the Minister, King Abdullah said "We thank you, the heads of missions and the participants of major Hajj symposium for the noble feelings and sincere prayers for the success of this Hajj season, thank God. We ask Allah Almighty to guide us all to serve the pilgrims and to provide comfort and security for them in order to perform their rituals in a smooth and an easy way". The Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques, King Abdullah Ibn Abdul Aziz received a message from Iran's supreme leader Ali Khamenei and President Mahmoud Ahmadinjad. The message was conveyed to the king by the secretary of Iran's supreme council of national security Dr. Ali Larijani during an audience with the king. The secretary also conveyed to the king the greetings of the Iranian leadership. In turn the king sent his greetings to the leadership. the audience was attended by Prince Miteb Ibn Abdul Aziz, the minister of municipal and rural affairs; Prince Badr Ibn Abdul Aziz, deputy commander of the national guard; Prince Saud Al-Faisal, the foreign minister; Prince Bandar Bin Sultan Ibn Abdul Aziz, the secretary general of national security council; and Iran's ambassador designate to the kingdom Dr. Sayyid Mohammed Husseini. The Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques, King Abdullah Ibn Abdul Aziz received a telephone call from President George W. Bush of the United States of America. During the conversation, they discussed the development of situations in the Middle East, the latest developments at the regional and international arenas, bilateral relations between the two countries and ways of enhancing them. Crown Prince Sultan Ibn Abdul Aziz, Deputy Premier, Minister of Defense and Aviation and Inspector General has thanked Minister of Hajj Dr. Fouad bin Abdul-Salam Al-Farsi for his cable which was sent to the Crown Prince on behalf of the heads of Hajj missions and the participants of a major Hajj symposium for this year. In his cable of reply to the Minister, the Crown Prince said "We thank you, the heads of missions and the participants of major Hajj symposium for the noble feelings and sincere prayers for the success of this Hajj season, thank God. We ask Allah Almighty to guide us all to serve the pilgrims and to provide comfort and security for them in order to perform their rituals in a smooth and an easy way". Crown Prince Sultan Ibn Abdul Aziz, Deputy Premier, Minister of Defense and Aviation and Inspector General received Tunisian Ambassador Salahuddin Muawi at the end of his term of office as an ambassador of his country to the Kingdom. The audience was attended by a number of officials. Prince Naif Ibn Abdul Aziz, the Interior Minister, has received a letter of thanks from director general of UNESCO Matsura for his approval to boost the program of the university studies for the Palestinian students by SR 3,656,250. In his message to Prince Naif, the UNESCO's director general highlighted the constructive role being played by Saudi Arabia towards education in Palestine. Prince Naif is the supervisor general of the Saudi committee for the relief of the Palestinians. Prince Salman Ibn Abdul Aziz, the Governor of Riyadh Region received the Spanish minister of Justice Juan Fernando Lopez Aguilar, who is currently visiting the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. During the meeting, they exchanged friendly talks and discussed a number of issues pertaining to the bilateral relations between the two countries. The meeting was attended by the Spanish ambassador to the Kingdom, Manuel Alabart. Prince Sultan Bin Salman Ibn Abdul Aziz, chairman of board of directors of society of handicapped children and chairman of board of trustees of Prince Salman centre for handicap research has expressed his best thanks and gratitude to the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah Ibn Abdul Aziz and the Crown Prince for the royal approval of establishing five sport clubs for special need persons in Madinah, Hail, Ahsa, Taif and Abha and allocating annual subsidies amounting to SR 500,000 to each club under the supervision of general presidency of youth welfare. In a press statement on this occasion, Prince Sultan Bin Salman Ibn Abdul Aziz said two days ago, the state decided to increase subsidies of the handicapped persons to annually stand at SR 10,000 for each one and today a royal gift is added to the previous ones through the establishment of sport clubs for special need persons. He noted that this matter embodies the care, interest and priority given by the state to special need persons in the kingdom of humanity. The Minister of Justice Dr. Abdullah Bin Mohammed Bin Ibrahim Al Al Sheikh met with Spanish Justice Minister Juan Fernando Lopez Aguidar and the accompanying delegation. Welcoming the Spanish minister at the outset of the meeting, Dr. Al Al Sheikh hoped the visit yields further cooperation between the two countries particularly in justice field. Then the two ministers signed a memorandum of understanding in judicial and criminal fields. The meeting was attended by a number of officials. Minister of Transport Dr. Jabarah Al Suraysi has stated that the budget of the ministry for the fiscal year 1427/1428 H. included numerous giant road projects in various regions of the kingdom. He stressed that the road and transport sectors enjoy support of Saudi leaders. He explained that the total cost of these 8000-km roads has reached more than sr7.7 billion. Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah Ibn Abdul Aziz has allocated SR10 billion for a major scholarship program under which more than 18,000 Saudi students have already been sent to American, European and Asian universities for higher studies, according to Higher Education Minister Dr. Khaled Al-Anqari. In a statement carried by the Saudi Press Agency, the minister said preparations were under way to dispatch 7,500 more students to foreign universities under the scholarship program, which is named after King Abdullah. The king has also agreed to increase the remunerations paid to the family of a scholarship winner as the program will now cover four children instead of two and the third and fourth children will get SR10,000 each. The state will also pay for the students' entry visas. King Abdullah had earlier approved a 15 percent rise in monthly stipends given to Saudi students who go abroad for higher studies. Measures have also been taken to solve the problem faced by some students as a result of exchange rate fluctuations. Students will now receive stipends at rates fixed at SR2.57 for the Canadian dollar, SR2.27 for the Australian dollar, SR5.93 for the sterling pound, SR3.84 for the euro and SR0.48 for the South Africa rand, the minister said. Prime Minister, Abdul Qader Bajammal, met with the British Minister of State for Foreign Affairs of the Middle East and North Africa Kim Howells. They discussed and assessed results of the Consultative Group Meeting Conference held in London on November 15-16 last year. Bajammal thanked the British government for its support to the conference and the fiscal commitments for supporting Yemen's economy, confirming that this support reflects the good level of Yemeni-British relations. On his part, the British official stressed that the commitments made by his government would be carried out throughout an agreement with the Yemeni concerned authorities. The meeting also tackled the technical aids provided by British government for developing administrative reforms mechanisms. The British official asked Bajammal to name the fields that need these aids. Bajammal named three main fields, free zones investments, English education and tax sectors reforms. Minister of Foreign Affairs and Expatriates, Abu Bakr Al-Qirbi and the British Ambassador to Yemen, Michael Gifford attended the meeting. Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has received a written message from President of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) Sheikh Khalifa Bin Zayed Al- Nahyan. The message was delivered to Ahmadinejad by UAE Foreign Minister Abdullah Bin Zayed Al- Nahyan. Speaking on the occasion, Ahmadinejad described the Iranian-UAE relationship as important and strategic. He hoped that bilateral relations would further be strengthened. Ahmadinejad said the development and enhancing of cooperation among the gulf states would have a positive impact on the entire Muslim nation. He pointed out that some opportunist countries, notably the US and Britain are keen on the disunity of the countries or the region so as to preserve their interests. 'The Muslim countries should remain alert and vigilant so as to abort the antagonistic plots', he said. On his part the UAE's foreign minister said the UAE would remain a friend of Iran, and the plots hatched by some foreign forces would not have any negative impact on bilateral relations. The UAE is keen on enhancing its relations with Iran, he added. Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas completed the reform within the senior leadership of the Palestinian security forces and sent 158 senior officers to early retirement. This decision was made within the framework of Abbas' campaign to fight corruption within the security forces and their lack of capability to push back anarchy within the Palestinian Authority. Lebanese army commander General Michel Suleiman said the military will protect public institutions from any "break in" attempt by Hezbollah-led protesters who threatened to launch serial demonstrations as of Tuesday to topple Premier Fouad Siniora's government. "The Lebanese army will by no means allow any break into any public or private institution," Suleiman said in an interview published by the daily As Safir. Suleiman said the role of the Lebanese army is "to protect the demonstrators but we will not tolerate any disturbance." Commenting on President George W. Bush new strategy in Iraq Leon E. Panetta, a Democratic member of the Iraq Study Group and former chief of staff to President Bill Clinton said: "It's more than a risk, it's a riverboat gamble," "There's no question that under our system he's going to be able to deploy these troops without Congress being able to stop him. But he's going to face so many battles over these next few months, on funding for the war, on every decision he makes, that he's basically taking the nation into another nightmare of conflict over a war that no one sees any end to." Failure in Iraq would threaten America's security and create entrenched instability in the Middle East, President Bush said in an interview on the CBS News program "60 Minutes." "If we do not succeed in Iraq, we will leave behind a Middle East which will endanger America in the future," Bush said during the interview. The interview was his first since his Jan. 10 announcement he plans to deploy more than 20,000 additional U.S. troops to Iraq to help improve the security situation there. Bush told CBS correspondent Scott Pelley that accepting the status quo or withdrawing U.S. troops from Iraq would only embolden terrorists who are intent on harming Americans and making their vision for the world a reality. "And they intend to use murder to enact their vision," the president said. A unified and democratic Iraq will provide the bedrock for stability in the Middle East, so Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al Maliki and his government must be more diligent in providing security and thwarting sectarian violence, he said. "I told him (Maliki) he's got to provide the troops he said he would provide inside of Baghdad. And we'll help him," Bush said. Politics should not hinder Iraqi government officials and armed forces from going after those responsible for killing innocent people, he said. "A killer is a killer, and we expect them to go after both Shia and Sunni murderers in order to provide the security for Baghdad," he said. Bush admitted his administration has made some mistakes regarding Iraq, but said people should not blame U.S. troops for the problems there. "We've got a bunch of good military people out there doing what we asked them to do. Iraqis should be thankful for the effort American troops have made in their country, the president said. "We liberated that country from a tyrant," he said. Removing Saddam Hussein from power will ultimately make the world a safer place, he said. "My decision to remove Saddam Hussein was the correct decision in my judgment." Bush said he saw portions of Saddam's execution video on the Internet. He said he was glad Saddam received the justice that was due, but didn't like the manner in which the execution took place. "I thought it was discouraging," he said. "Obviously they could have handled this thing a lot better." Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmed Abul-Gheit reiterated that Iran's and Israel's possession of nuclear weapons would urge other regional states to take measures to defend themselves. In an interview with the Turkish newspaper Radikal , Abul-Gheit stressed that Israel should sign the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, noting that Egypt would not stand hand-folded without defending itself. He underlined Egypt's stance in support of calls to render the Middle East region free from weapons of mass destruction, adding, however, that countries not having such arms had the right to think of defending itself. He noted that Egypt and Turkey enjoyed identical views in this respect. A group of terrorists involved in a deadly fire fight with police this month had blueprints of foreign embassies and documents naming foreign envoys, Tunisia's official news agency quoted the interior minister as saying. Interior Minister Rafik Haj Kacem described the extremists as "terrorists" in a closed door meeting with members of Tunisia's governing party, the TAP news agency reported. "It concerns a group of terrorist Salafists who infiltrated (Tunisia) via the Algerian border," Rafik Belhadj Kacem was quoted as saying. "During the investigation, they found images of sites of some foreign embassies. They also confiscated documents containing a few names of foreign diplomats living in Tunisia and a quantity of traditional explosives." The fight against terrorism, protecting the environment, encouraging participation in pluralistic societies and strengthening the OSCE's role (The Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe) as a forum for dialogue and co-operation are among the Organization's priorities for 2007, the new OSCE Chairman-in-Office, Spanish Foreign Minister Miguel Angel Moratinos, said. In a speech to the Organization's Permanent Council, Minister Moratinos noted how far the OSCE and its participating States had progressed in the past decades. But he said the area still faced several challenges. "Project Europe is still unfinished," he said. "At the outset, the OSCE was intended to make Europe a space of peace, security, freedom and co-operation, with all ideological confrontations overcome. We still have to continue working to this goal." In the fight against terrorism, the OSCE will work on many fronts, including enhancing legal co-operation and strengthening travel document security, the Chairman-in-Office said, adding that promoting the protection and recognition of terrorism victims was vitally important. An international meeting in Madrid to celebrate 15 years since a full-blown Middle East conference acknowledged progress had run into the sand and urged concrete steps to revive it, including Arab participation in the diplomatic "Quartet." Since 2003, the Quartet, comprising the United Nations, the United States, the European Union and Russia, has been backing a "roadmap" for peace which calls for the creation of an independent Palestinian state in the West Bank and Gaza Strip. However, the plan has stalled and the Spanish chairmanship of this week's meeting of politicians, diplomats and private individuals -- many of whom attended the 1991 conference -- said no time should be lost in "creating the political will tragically missing today." Spanish Foreign Minister and former EU Middle East envoy Miguel Angel Moratinos, who has been lobbying hard for Spain to host another conference, proposed Arab participation in the Quartet as a step forward. "The moment has come to open up (the Quartet) to the Arab world," Moratinos told the meeting to mark 15 years since the 1991 conference which laid the foundation for the 1993 Oslo Accords. Moratinos and EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana both expressed hope concrete progress could be made in the coming six months to unblock the stalled peace process as Spain lobbies hard to host a new full-blown conference. Oman and Algeria signed an agreement for cooperation in airspace. The Secretary-General of the Algerian Ministry of Transport Muhammad Ali, who signed the agreement along with his Omani counterpart Hamad bin Saher Al Amri, said that this agreement following completion of negotiations by civil aviation experts from the two countries, has granted a legal permission for developing bilateral trade and facilitating movement of their citizens between Algeria and the Sultanate of Oman. Lebanon's Sunni Mufti Sheikh Mohammed Rashid Qabbani has urged pro- and anti-government political leaders to resume dialogue, reiterating that toppling Prime Minister Fouad Saniora's cabinet was not allowed. "The only way to get things restored is to go back to dialogue and consultations," Qabbani added. The Saudi popular campaign for the Relief of Lebanese people has held a celebration for children under the slogan (With you Lebanon, your children and orphans are in our hearts) in the presence of the Lebanese Minister of Social Affairs Nayla Muawwad, the cooperation of the Society (Mercy) and the participation of UNICEF in the compound the touristic plains in the town of Khiyara in western Lebanese Bekaa. During the celebration of Saudi assistance, which included school supplies and stationery were distributed to about two thousand children in ten schools and orphanages in the western Bekaa Lebanese in the presence of the Regional Director for the campaign of the People Saudi Arabia Yousef Bakhit. The government of the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques, King Abdullah Ibn Abdul Aziz has extended financial support worth $125, 000 for the Republic of Bangladesh, representing 50% of the cost of building Zia Mosque at Dhaka International Airport. The Saudi Ambassador to the Republic of Bangladesh, Abdullah Bin Mohammad Al-Namlah handed over a check for the amount to the Under Secretary of the Ministry of Civil Aviation. On behalf of the staff of the Bangladesh Ministry of Civil Aviation, the Under Secretary expressed deep gratitude and appreciation to the government of Saudi Arabia, for its continuing support to the Republic of Bangladesh. US senator Hillary Clinton, was in Baghdad as part of a delegation from the US Congress led by senator John McCain, meeting Iraqi and US military leaders. Clinton, who along with McCain has often criticised US management of the Iraq conflict, said that after meeting the country's prime minister as well as the US commander in charge of training and equipping Iraqi forces, her impression was one of "cautious optimism." Greek police spent nearly 30 years hunting far-left terror groups, whose aging members were captured before the 2004 Olympics. Now authorities say they are dealing with copycat militants, styled on those 1970s radicals, who were blamed for an attack on the US Embassy in Athens. The rocket-propelled grenade attack, which was aimed at the embassy seal and caused no injuries, bore similarities to strikes by deadly groups such as November 17 and Revolutionary Popular Struggle, or ELA, many of whose members are serving life sentences in prison near Athens. Public Order Vyron Polydoras said police were examining two claims of responsibility for the attack by a new group called Revolutionary Struggle, which first appeared in 2003. He speculated they could be receiving help from older terrorists who escaped arrest. "It is very likely that this is the work of a domestic group," Public Order Vyron Polydoras said. "We believe this effort to revive terrorism is deplorable and will not succeed." He speculated that "this could be (guided) by the first generation of terrorists who were not included in the arrests." Yousuf bin Alawi bin Abdullah, minister responsible for foreign affairs, received in his office the Japanese deputy foreign minister. The meeting discussed bilateral relations and ways of boosting them and emphasised on moving forward in developing these relations by opening up new fields that serve joint interest of the two countries and friendly peoples. Views were also exchanged on a number of regional and international issues of common interest. The meeting was attended by the Japanese ambassador to the Sultanate, Sultan bin Saif Al Mahrouqi, deputy head of Asian department and the delegation accompanying the guest. Sayyid Fahd bin Mahmoud Al Said, deputy prime minister for the Council of Ministers, received the first chairman of the Audit Court in the Kingdom of Belgium and chairman of the Audit Committee on Internal Criterion, affiliated to the International Organisation for Supreme Audit Institutions (INTOSAI). Sayyid Fahd welcomed the guest and his delegation. He reviewed the progress of financial audit institutions in the Sultanate and the government care extended to it as one of the important and vital sectors, which contributes effectively in serving the comprehensive development witnessed by the country. Sayyid Fahd stressed the importance of such meetings and their positive results contributing to enhancing international cooperation. During the meeting, the best ways for bilateral cooperation between the Sultanate and Belgium were discussed particularly in economic cooperation, besides matters related to the work of the International Committee for Auditing. Sheikh Abdullah bin Ali al Qatabi, Minister of State and Governor of Dhofar, met with Abdul Qadir Ali Hilal, Governor of Hadhramout. They reviewed bilateral relations and ways of boosting joint co-operation. Al Qatabi said he was delighted to visit Yemen. He described Oman-Yemen relations as excellent and exemplary. He added that the ties between the two countries are accorded special attention by Sultan Qaboos and Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh. Earlier, Sheikh Al Qatabi began a three-day tour of the Governorate of Hadhramout in response to an official invitation extended to him by the governor of Hadhramout. The visit comes within the context of strong brotherly bilateral relations and is aimed at discussing co-operation and consultation. Al Qatabi was accompanied by a delegation of government officials. The Iraqi President Jalal Talabani visited Syria, becoming the first Iraqi president to travel to the country in nearly three decades. Syria's official news agency SANA said the talks between Syrian President Bashar Assad and Talabani focused on ''bilateral relations,'' and that both sides expressed a desire to strengthen ties between their countries. President Al-Assad also stressed Syria's readiness to help Iraq achieve national reconciliation and political stability to help end the increasing sectarian violence in the country, the state news agency said. French Interior Minister Nicolas Sarkozy, the governing party's candidate for the April-May presidential elections, regained the lead over Socialist candidate Segolene Royal, a second poll showed this week. Sarkozy would beat Royal 52 percent to 48 percent if the May 6 runoff were held now, according to a Jan. 17 CSA/Le Parisien opinion poll which mirrors the finding of an Ifop poll published Jan. 16. In a Jan. 3 CSA poll, Royal was seen beating Sarkozy 52 percent to 48 percent. Sarkozy, who was nominated on Jan. 14 by the governing Union for a Popular Movement party, would get 30 percent of the first- round ballot due April 22, one percentage point more than Royal, according to CSA. National Front leader Jean-Marie Le Pen would come third with 15 percent of the votes, followed by Union for a French Democracy leader Francois Bayrou with 9 percent. Royal, who has yet to outline the full details of her platform, has been losing ground among voters of her own camp and the electorate aged less than 30, according to Le Parisien. She had been seen beating Sarkozy with 51 percent to 53 percent of the votes in the 11 previous CSA polls. CSA, which polled 845 people aged 18 or more, didn't give a margin of error. |