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February 16, 2007 |
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***** The Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah Ibn Abdul Aziz has sent a cable of congratulations to Iran's President Mahmud Ahmadi Nejad on the anniversary of his country's national day. The King wished the President permanent good health and happiness and his brotherly people steady progress and prosperity. A similar cable of congratulations was also sent to the president on this occasion by Crown Prince Sultan Ibn Abdul Aziz, the Deputy Premier, Minister of Defense and Aviation, and Inspector General. The Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah Ibn Abdul Aziz received a telephone call from President Pervez Musharraf of Pakistan. During the conversation, they discussed bilateral relations between the two brotherly countries, ways of their enhancement, and the latest developments at the regional and international arenas particularly the situations in the Middle East. Crown Prince Sultan Ibn Abdul Aziz, the Deputy Premier, Minister of Defense and Aviation, and Inspector General, chaired at his palace a meeting of the ministerial committee for studying the project of the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah Ibn Abdul Aziz on the development of general education. During the meeting, they reviewed studies which have been done on the project including development of curricula, training of teachers and improvement of educational environment. This project is considered as an extension to the interest and attention paid by the king and the crown prince, who is also chairman of education committee, to the educational process and its development. The meeting was attended by the committee's member ministers. Crown Prince Sultan Ibn Abdul Aziz, Deputy Premier, Minister of Defense and Aviation, and Inspector General received at his palace the Speaker of Indian House of Representatives Senath Chatterji. During the meeting, they reviewed aspects of cooperation between the two countries and topics of mutual concern. The audience was attended by Chairman of Shoura Council Dr. Salih bin Abdullah bin Humaid and a number of officials. The Saudi TV started to present on the Channel 1 the (Light and Hope) program about the Sultan Al-Saud charitable city. The program includes interviews with patients from various age groups who benefited from treatment in the city. It will host Dr. Abdullah Rubaian, Dr. Ahmed Dakheel, and one worker Masoud Al-Dosari. The program deals with back injuries and how to treat them. Under the directives of Prince Naif Ibn Abdul Aziz, Minister of the Interior, the Ministry of the Interior takes part in the 22nd National Heritage and Cultural Festival in Janadriyah. The Ministry's pavilion includes examples of all sections and works of the ministry. Prince Salman Ibn Abdul Aziz, Emir of Riyadh region, and board member of the National Authority for the protection of natural life visited protected areas at the empty quarter. He was accompanied by Prince Sultan bin Salman Secretary-General of the Higher Tourism Authority, Prince Khalid bin Salman Ibn Abdul Aziz, and Prince Nayef bin Salman Ibn Abdul Aziz. He was welcomed upon arrival at the protected area by Prince Mashal bin Saud bin Abdul Aziz, Emir of Najran, Prince Bandar bin Saud bin Mohammed Secretary-General of the body the National Commission for Wildlife Conservation and Development, Sheikhs and heads of tribes. Prince Salman toured the protected area. Prince Turki Al-Faisal, delivered a lecture at Middle East Studies Center of Saint Antony's College of British Oxford University titled" Saudi Constitutional Reform from King Abdulaziz to King Abdullah". Prince Turki dealt with constitutional and political developments in the Kingdom from the period of the foundation of the first Saudi state on the Holy Quran, Sunnah (Prophet's sayings and deeds) and implementation of Islamic allegiance to our present time. He also reviewed in detail the developments from the administrative and political regulations of late founder King Abdulaziz bin Abdulrahman Al-Faisal Al Saud when he entered Riyadh in 1319H to the announcement of the Kingdom's foundation with the Holy Quran and Sunnah as its constitution, King Abdulaziz's death, the establishment of the Shoura Council, approval of Shoura principle through advisors or citizens, administrative development and the set up of council of ministers. Prince Turki dealt with King Abdulaziz's march which was completed by late kings Saud, Faisal, Khaled and Fahd (May Allah bless their souls) and which included reform of administration and its modernization, noting that late King Fahd announced in 1413, the systems of governance, Shoura Council and regions which have contributed to strengthening political and constitutional reform in the Kingdom. He indicated the announcement of the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz before months on the System of Allegiance Commission which is the latest system strengthening reform and stability in the country. Prince Turki Al-Faisal affirmed that municipal election which took place two years ago is considered an advanced step along side the development and reform that the Kingdom has sought to achieve including the expansion of Shoura Council and increase in its members. King Abdulaziz Foundation for Research and Archives participated in organizing the lecture which was attended by the Foundation's Secretary General Dr. Fahd Al-Sammari, a number of Arab ambassadors and deans and professors of Oxford colleges. Saudi border guard patrols at the Saudi Yemeni border exchanged fire last Monday morning with two passengers on a vehicle trying to illegally cross the border towards Yemen, injuring the car's driver and arresting his companion, said major general Mansour bin Sultan al-Turki, security spokesman of the ministry of interior. In a statement to the Saudi Press Agency, al-Turki said also two Saudi security men were seriously injured during the exchange of fire. He explained that borer guard patrols at al-Wadee'a center, affiliated to Sharourah sector, have spotted a car driven by two passengers attempting to infiltrate across the Saudi Yemeni border on Monday morning, and chased it when it speedily crossed the back lines of the border guard patrols towards the Yemeni territories. The border guard patrols were then subjected to intensive fire of machine guns from the fugitive car, the spokesman said, adding that they fired back at it, controlling the situation and arresting those inside. The statement said two Saudi security men were seriously injured during the exchange of fire while the car's driver was slightly injured. The concerned authorities are investigating the incident, the spokesman said. Kuwait and Bahrain expressed support to further activation of GCC march in political, economic, military and security domains, reflecting a paper presented by Kuwait for the GCC leaders in their meeting in Saudi Arabia last December. This came in a joint statement, released by the foreign ministry at the conclusion of a two-day visit by King of Bahrain Hamad bin Issa Al-Khalifa to Kuwait. King Hamad held talks with the Amir Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Sabah and discussed ways of further cementing bilateral relations and cooperation in different domains. During the visit, both leaders asserted need of bolstering bilateral partnership in economic and financial domains, including investment, and how to benefit from economic and financial expertise in both Gulf states, said the statement. Sheikh Sabah and King Hamad underlined necessity of strengthening role of the six-state Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) to facing challenges at the regional and international fronts, and in a way preserving security of the Gulf states, it added. Both leaders also discussed views over regional and international developments, noted the statement, saying views were identical on all issues. The GCC is made up of Kuwait, Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Oman and the United Arab Emirates (UAE). Presided over by its chairman Sheikh Dr. Salih Bin Abdullah Bin Homaid, the Shoura Council held its 70th ordinary session in Riyadh to continue discussions of the annual report of the ministry of higher education and Saudi universities for the fiscal year 1424 - 1425 H., the bill of the supreme council for education and the bill of universities submitted by the educational affairs and scientific research committee. In a key address during the debate, Minister of Higher Education Dr. Khalid Bin Mohammed Al-Anqary told the members that radical changes have recently been witnessed by higher education all over the world due to the information and technological revolution. He said the kingdom is well aware and is closely following such changes through its participation in international and regional activities, including conferences, symposiums and workshops. He said such changes necessitated on the Saudi universities to match their programs with the recent academic alterations. He said the changes put leverage on the Saudi universities to consider reaching new structures for high educational institutions to enable their graduates to join the labor market which vastly depend on information economics. Al-Anqary stated seven spheres out of many to achieve the new structures: enrolment, accommodation, adjustment, quality, finance, scientific research, scholarships and strategic planning. He said such policies, commenced in 1424 H., have so far yielded good results, saying that two solutions were suggested at the time. firstly: implementing an urgent plan to release and disengage congestions in Saudi universities through launching a number of support colleges like society colleges, qualifying diplomas, parallel education, distance education, and affiliated education and secondly implementation of a medium-range plan aiming at quantitative and qualitative expansion in university seats. The minister cited the establishment of eleven new government-run universities, bringing to 19 the number of universities in the kingdom in addition to opening of a number of colleges in more than 38 provinces benefiting nearly 400,000 male and female students. Accordingly, the number of faculties of medicine increased from seven to 16, faculties of dentistry from three to seven, pharmaceutical studies from three to nine, applied medical sciences from three to 13, nursery from zero to four, engineering from seven to 20, computer from three to 14, science from six to 21, society colleges from four to 27, and university educational hospitals from three to 12. Meanwhile, three private universities and 17 private colleges were opened, he added. Dr. Al-Anqary said this program resulted in the increase of enrolment in universities from 68,000 in 1424 H. to 110,000 students, at a rate of 62 percent. This rate is expected to rise to 100 percent over the coming three years, the minister said. Dr. Al-Anqary went on to say that the government has allocated SR 56 billion in this year's budget for the cost of expansion in higher education, increasing from SR 20 billion in 1424- 1425 H. moreover, SR 8,000 billion was appropriated from the surplus of the last two years for new universities and colleges, he said. Upon instructions of the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques, 6,000 new jobs of demonstrators in our universities were created over three years in addition to 2250 new jobs of teaching staff for this year, the minister said. More than 18,000 male and female students were sent on scholarships over the last three years and work is underway to send more than 7,500 students, he added. He said a study to annex the new colleges to old universities was approved. following the meeting, the assistant secretary general of the Shoura council Ahmed Bin Abdulaziz Al-Yahaya said the Shoura council endorsed at the outset of the session a draft cooperation agreement between King Abdulaziz city for sciences and technology and the European organization for nuclear research on scientific and technological cooperation in the field of high-voltage energy physics. Also approved during the meeting was a draft memorandum of understanding on cooperation between the national center for documents and archives at the cabinet of Saudi Arabia and the general directorate for the state's archives at the cabinet headquarters of Turkey. The Shoura council also approved a draft general agreement for economic, commercial, investment, scientific, technological, youth and sports agreement between the government of the kingdom and the government of Malta. Saudi Ambassador to the Sultanate of Oman Abdullah Bin Abdulrahman A'lem held a dinner party in honor of visiting Saudi delegation taking part in activities of Muscat Festival. The event was held at the ambassador's residence. The event was also attended by members of the diplomatic corps and GCC Ambassadors to Oman. According to the directives of the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques, King Abdul Ibn Abdul-Aziz Al Saud, the Supreme Commander of the Armed Forces, the Commander in Chief of the General Staff Saleh bin Ali Muhaya decorated General Mohamed A. Taher, the Pakistani Commander of Naval Forces with the King Abdulaziz decoration. Secretary General of the Arab Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) Abdul Rahman Al-Atiyyah has underscored the strength of the relations between member countries of the GCC and the European Union (EU) and described them as "historic ties". Speaking at Paris Euro-Mediterranean Forum, Al-Atiyyah reiterated the keenness of the GCC countries on further enhancing these relations with the European Union. He noted that the EU constitutes the biggest commercial partners of the GCC member states. 'The volume of trade exchange between the two sides jumped from $23 billion in 1987 to more than $ 110 billion last year', he said, pointing out that the imports of the GCC member states from the EU constitute more than one third of their imports. Al-Atiyyah said the political constitutional and legal changes witnessed by the GCC countries in the last decade stand as a witness for the on-going political developments in these countries. He noted that the GCC countries have made big strides in the field of integration, and have been adopting a realistic and flexible policies. On the efforts of the GCC to realize regional peace and security, Al-Atiyyah confirmed the keenness of the GCC countries on enhancing the pillars of security and stability in Iraq. As regards Makkah agreement signed by the Palestinian leaders, he hoped that it would lead to the formation of a national unity government and put an end to all forms of tension and violence as well as enabling the Palestinians to establish an independent state based on the principles of the international legitimacy. Commenting on the situation in Lebanon, he hoped that the Lebanese would work collectively to ensure security and stability. Al-Atiyyah said the security philosophy of the GCC is a defensive and preventive one. 'We are keen on the containment of dangers and threats by all political and diplomatic means, and we have no intention to acquire weapons of mass destruction, but we are keen on dialogue and adherence to the principles of good neighbouring relationships, and settlement of regional problems, including the Iranian nuclear issue, through peaceful means. Military leaders from 17 Arab countries met to prepare studies to confront weapons of mass destruction attacks amid growing nuclear threats. Arab League official in charge of national security, Muwaffak Nassar, said that the consultations are aimed to study means to face the increasing danger of the spread of WMD in the Middle East and their repercussions on national and international security and peace. He said the conference discussed means of preventing WMD "in light of Israel's possession of different types of these weapons and the possibility of using them in the future." The 22-member Arab League has repeatedly called for a mechanism to secure the crises-packed Middle East from weapons of mass destruction. The military participants discussed working papers on ways to confront the WMD threats and submit recommendations to the Arab chiefs of staff due to meet in April to endorse the proposals. An RO 19 million agreement for the construction of interior roads in Salalah and Taqah cities in the Governorate of Dhofar was signed here yesterday. Four more agreements to construct housing units and water supplies for various wilayats at a total cost of RO 2.306 million were also signed by Ahmed bin Abdulnabi Macki, Minister of National Economy and Deputy Chairman of the Financial Affairs and Energy Resources Council; Lt Gen Malik bin Sulaiman al Maamari, Inspector-General of Police and Customs; Dr Khamis bin Mubarak al Alawi, Minister of Housing, Electricity and Water, and officials of the implementing companies. Macki stated that 334-km roads will cover 25 residential districts in Salalah and Taqah cities. The other projects include 51 housing units in Tiwi in the Wilayat of Sur (RO 1.4 million), 18 housing units in the Wilayat of Al Suwaiq (RO 369,000), 10 housing units in Shuwaiar village in the Wilayat of Duqum in the Al Wusta (RO 249,000) and social houses in the Wilayat of Madha in the Governorate of Musandam (RO 56,000). The signing ceremony was attended by Muneer bin Mohammed al Moosawi, Secretary-General of the Supreme Committee for Town Planning, and officials at the Ministry of Housing, Electricity and Water. The Yemeni Shoura Council held a session, chaired by Abdulaziz Abdulghani, the Chairman of the council, during which the members studied latest developments in a number districts of Sa'ada governorate.In the session, attended by Deputy Prime Minister, Interior Minster, Dr.Rashad Al-Alimi, and Ali Mohammad Al-Anisi, director of presidential office, the chairman of National Security Apparatus, Abdulghani delivered a speech in which he described the terrorist Al-Houthi and his followers as most danger to the homeland and that they must be faced strictly. He added that they are plotting their evil conspiracy through interior and exterior support, and that they are conducting communications with foreign groups and receive material support from them. "The followers of the terrorist Al-Houthi, is campaigning for comer ideas and tries through force and illegal armed acts imposing them," He said, adding that this group wants by these acts, inflaming the first disturbance in 2004 in a number of districts in the governorate, then the second and the current one, to make sectarian and communal riots targeting the national unity. He ended his speech by calling upon the government to do its best to face this riot. At the end of the session, Al-Alimi and Al-Anisi informed members of the council on the latest developments in the governorate and the efforts exerted by the government in facing and ending this riot. Senators in the United States have approved the nomination of General George Casey as the country's next army chief of staff. Lawmakers backed Gen Casey, who has commanded US forces in Iraq for more than two years, by 83 votes to 14. But some key senators - both Republican and Democrat - voted against him for failing to stem the violence in Iraq. Those opposing Gen Casey's nomination included two potential presidential hopefuls, Democrat Hillary Clinton and Republican John McCain. Senator McCain said that as commander in the field, Gen Casey should be held accountable for the performance of US military forces in Iraq. Nine other Republican senators opposed Gen Casey's nomination. The US military could begin withdrawing troops from Iraq by the end of 2007 if the new strategy aimed at quelling violence in Baghdad succeeds, US Defence Secretary Robert Gates said. A decision to begin pulling US forces out will also depend on whether the Iraqi government can run the country effectively and take responsibility for security, Gates said. "I would hope that if our operations are successful this year, that we would be able to begin drawing down our forces toward the end of the year," Gates told the Senate Armed Services Committee. Gates said the troop increase "is not the last chance" to prevail in Iraq and said he was examining alternatives in case the plan does not work. "I would be irresponsible if I weren't thinking about what the alternatives might be if that didn't happen," Gates said. Egyptian diplomatic source described the allegations of the Israeli Internal Security Minister about Egypt's responsibility for the smuggling of arms to Palestinians across the Egyptian border in Sinai as not serious. The source said: if these allegations are true Israel would have informed Egypt through diplomatic means. The source, added that these Israeli allegations are part of the pressure on Egypt in order to minimize the Egyptian efforts with the Palestinian parties including Hamas. The Deputy Chairman of the Lebanese Parliament MP Farid Makari lauded the United Nations decision to sign the draft project for establishment of the international court in the case of the late Prime Minister, Rafiq Hariri. Yousuf bin Alawi bin Abdullah, minister responsible for foreign affairs in the Sultanate of Oman, headed for Spain on a three-day official visit. In a pre-departure statement, Alawi said, during the visit, he will discuss relations between the Sultanate and Spain, noting that the visit comes in response to the Spanish foreign minister's visit to the Sultanate. Alawi said his talks with Spanish officials would be focused on various regional and international issues, particularly, the situation in the Middle East, including the Palestinian cause, the situation in Lebanon and the region in general. Russia's defense minister chose a NATO session to make a pre-emptive verbal assault on U.S. plans to base elements of a missile defense system in Eastern Europe. The minister, Sergey Ivanov, argued that there was no rationale for basing American anti-missile radars and interceptors in former Soviet satellite states that have now joined NATO. He expressed certainty that neither Iran nor North Korea could strike NATO territory in Europe with ballistic missiles. And he warned that Russia could easily overwhelm the small defensive system under consideration. The Senate confirmed retired Navy Adm. Mike McConnell to replace Negroponte as President Bush's top intelligence adviser. McConnell, 63, a career military intelligence officer, will be responsible for coordinating all 16 intelligence agencies in the United States. The post was created to fill one of the recommendations of the Sept. 11 commission. The EU's first anti-terrorism coordinator, Gijs de Vries, is to resign in March after three years in the job, according to Reuters. An aide to De Vries aide told Reuters on 9 February 2007 that the decision had "nothing to do with a Parliamentary report" that criticised de Vries for not giving answers on allegations of complicity by EU governments in suspected CIA secret prisons and flights for terrorist suspects. OIC Secretary-General blasted Israeli crime against the holy Al-Aqsa mosque and initiates contacts to orchestrate a united Islamic counter-initiative. In a press release the OIC said: "Israel's reckless demolition of the passage linking the Holy Al-Aqsa Mosque to Al-Maghariba Gate is an outright attack on the sanctity of the site of Prophet Mohamed's Ascension (PBUH) and a blatant assault on the holy places of the Muslim world", Prof. Ekmeleddin Ihsanoglu, Secretary-General of the Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC), said. "This is an outrageous crime whose consequences and responsibility should be wholly imputed to Israel as a flagrant violation of international law, which explicitly prohibits an occupying force from desecrating or altering the religious and historical character of the lands under its occupation", Ihsanoglu added. Consequently, the Secretary-General initiated proactive contacts with Dato' Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, Prime Minister of Malaysia and Chairman of the Islamic Summit Conference, with a view to orchestrating an Islamic initiative in order to counter the heinous aggressions being perpetrated by Israel against the Holy Al-Aqsa Mosque and the City of Al-Quds Al-Sharif. The 60 per cent government-owned Petroleum Development Oman (PDO) announced the discovery of three oilfields, one in the south and two in the north. PDO also said that its performance in terms of annual crude oil production during last year was within the target range of 580,000-600,000 barrels a day, with an average oil production for 2006 at 589,000 barrels a day. The crude oil production target for 2007 is in the range of 560,000-570,000 barrels of oil per day. "Hence, this is the fourth year in a row that we for all intents and purposes have met our oil-production target since the PDO began to specify production-target ranges rather than specific numbers," John Malcom, managing director of PDO told the media, while making a presentation on the company's performance in 2006 and its future plans. "Our plans call for sustainable oil and gas production levels over the next five years. "To successfully carry them out in this ever more complex world will require the skills of all those who work in and with PDO. "But I'm sure those people are eager to take part in this endeavour, knowing that this production profile safeguards the well-being of future generations of Omanis," John said. Talking about the new discoveries, John Malcom said that one field, named Budour Northeast, is located in the Birba area of south Oman while the other two discoveries are extensions of the Ufuq and Dafiq fields, whose discovery was originally announced last year. "These new fields will contribute to the sustainability of PDO's oil production," says John. "They have been hooked up rapidly to our pipeline infrastructure, adding to PDO's production in the short-term while delivering valuable production data for the fields' longer-term development." The Budour NE field will be appraised this year on the basis of a long-term production test of the discovery well and the drilling of two or three additional wells. But initial indications are that the field contains a significant quantity of good-quality oil. The discovery well revealed that the field, at a depth of about 3km, contained oil along a vertical distance of 67 metres. And a preliminary test showed that it could produce at a stable rate of 8,000 barrels per day. The other two discoveries in the north of the country lying at depths of about 1,500 metres are hooked up for long-term production testing with a view to developing them as part of the plans being drawn up for the earlier Ufuq and Dafiq discoveries. Speaking about PDO's long-term goals, John Malcom said that inspite of challenges, the future of PDO is promising. "With complexity comes opportunity. And we have ambitious plans to grasp those opportunities so as to achieve a long-term sustainable hydrocarbon production in the Sultanate," John said. PDO is also increasingly setting its sights on the production of gas. "We have witnessed dramatic growth in both gas and condensate output. PDO has worked hard and will continue to do so to ensure increased gas deliveries. By the end of 2006, our gas and condensate production was equivalent to 430,000 barrels of oil a day, and it is set to continue growing until the end of the decade." The discovery of major gas accumulations in Saih Rawl and Saih Nihayda in the 1990s paved the way for the development of an entirely new industry the export of liquefied natural gas. This also enabled the government to launch other gas-intensive industries in Sohar, Sur and Salalah. The development of Kauther gas field which was discovered in 2001, is now in full swing and will be ready for commissioning in early 2008. And after the construction of an associated plant, the whole development will be capable of processing 20 million cubic metres a day of condensate-rich gas. Zuhair Garranah Egyptian Tourism Minister lauded the close cooperation between the agencies involved in the organization of Hajj and Umrah in Saudi Arabia and Egypt. He said in a statement to the Saudi News Agency following a meeting with the Ambassador of the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques, to the Republic of Egypt Hisham Nazer that they discussed areas of cooperation and coordination between Saudi Arabia and Egypt in the field of Hajj and Umrah. The Egyptian Minister of Tourism added that it had been agreed to hold periodic meetings between officials of the Saudi embassy and the Egyptian Ministry of Tourism to discuss the mechanism of the organization of the Hajj and Umrah tours in the coming period and follow-up developments. Taha Yassin Ramadan, executed Iraqi leader Saddam Hussain's vice president, was sentenced to death for crimes against humanity. "The condemned Taha Yassin Ramadan shall be sentenced to hanging until death for committing deliberate killing crimes," Judge Ali al-Kahachi said, after the Iraqi High Tribunal met to review an earlier life sentence. |