February 16, 2007

THE CUSTODIAN OF THE TWO HOLY MOSQUES OPENS THE 22ND NATIONAL HERITAGE AND CULTURE FESTIVAL. KING ABDULLAH HONOURS DR AL-HUWAIMIL, FOLLOWS UP THE CAMEL RACE AND WATCHES A SHOW ON THE LAND OF LOVE AND PEACE. Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah Ibn Abdul Aziz patronized the start of the 22nd National Heritage and Culture Festival, organized annually by the National Guard in Al Janadriyah. The start of the festival was attended by Crown Prince Sultan Ibn Abdul Aziz, Deputy Premier, Minister of Defense and Aviation and Inspector General. Upon arrival at the venue of the festival in Al Janadriyah, the King was received by Prince Sattam Ibn Abdul Aziz, Deputy Governor of Riyadh region, Prince General Miteb Bin Abdullah Ibn Abdul Aziz, Assistant Vice Commander of the National Guard for Military Affairs and Vice Chairman of the Supreme Organizing Committee of the festival, and other officials. Then, the royal anthem was played. then, the king and his guests, Sheikh Salman Bin Hamad Al Khalifah, Bahrain's Heir Apparent and General Commander of the Defense Force, and Sheikh Saeed Bin Zayed Al Nahayan, Member of the Executive Council of the emirate of Abu Dhabi, took their seats in the main podium of the event. Then, verses of the Holy Quran were recited. Then, the first round of the grand camel race began. The festival will also kick off with a camel race, which has become popular at national and regional levels, said Abdul Rahman Al-Subeit, Chairman of the Organizing Committee and Under Secretary at the National Guard in a statement before the opening of the festival. More than 500 contestants from within and outside Saudi Arabia will take part. The race will be held in six rounds with the 20km first round taking place on the opening day, he said. The second round will be held on Saturday, third and fourth on Sunday and the last two rounds on Monday. "We have made all arrangements for the race including installation of cameras at the finishing point." Following the end of the first round of the race, the king handed prizes to the winners. Then, the king and those attending the event performed Maghrib prayers before gracing a dinner party held on this occasion. Speeches and poems were read and Saudi dancing for men was performed. Then King Abdullah left the place with warm farewell from the crowded fans. The opening ceremony, dinner and speech and arts ceremonies were attended by Crown Prince Sultan Ibn Abdul Aziz, Deputy Premier, Minister of Defense and Aviation and Inspector General; prince Miteb Ibn Abdul Aziz, Minister of Municipal and Rural Affairs; Prince Sattam Ibn Abdul Aziz, Deputy Governor of Riyadh Region; Prince Ahmed Ibn Abdul Aziz, Deputy Minister of Interior; Prince Miqren Ibn Abdul Aziz, Chief of General Intelligence; other princes, senior guests of the state; ministers; the festival's guests; senior civil and military officials and a big number of people. The Kingdom's initiative to bridge divides among the Palestinian factions was highlighted in the 22nd National Festival for Heritage and Culture in Janadriyah, 45 kilometers north of the capital. Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah opened the annual festival. Also present were Crown Prince Sultan Ibn Abdul Aziz, Deputy Premier and Minister of Defense and Aviation, Riyadh Governor Prince Salman Ibn Abdul Aziz, and other senior princes and officials. The festival is open to all citizens and residents alike in the Kingdom with special days being assigned to men and others for women. In the opening speech, Prince Miteb Ibn Abdullah, Deputy Chairman of the Higher Organizing Committee for the festival, the assistant commander of the National Guard for military affairs, lauded King Abdullah's role rallying Palestinian solidarity during the summit in Makkah last week, saying that it stemmed from his belief of a shared destiny of the Muslim world. "You take care of the issues of the Muslim world and do whatever you can to unite its stance and its destiny," he said. "This is you. And this is the initiative of the Kingdom since it was founded." He said King Abdullah was a role model for Muslims as well as his people. He also said that the summit called by King Abdullah "has spared Palestinian blood from being spilled in internal disputes." Prince Miteb also said the festival is becoming internationally recognized as the Kingdom's premiere cultural showcase Speaking on behalf of the international delegation members attending the annual heritage festival, Ahmed Rashed, president of the Religious Committee in the Egyptian Council, said that the Kingdom's call for Palestinians to unite their shared destiny in Makkah was a continuation of King Abdullah's efforts to serve the Arab and Islamic world. He echoed King Abdullah's call to unite the Palestinians the same way as Salahuddin, the great Muslim warrior, united Palestinians and then took Jerusalem from the Jews 600 years ago. Five young boys from Prince Abdul Majeed Center for the Disabled in Jeddah gave a performance before the king on the stage. King Abdullah awarded the King Abdul Aziz Medallion of Honor to Hassan Al-Huwaimil, a writer and thinker who has served his country for more than 40 years. After several poems were read to the king, the annual opera took place. This year's theme was "the Land of Love and Peace". Saudi singers Muhammad Abdu, Abadi Al-Jawhar, Khaled Abdul Rahman, and Abbas Ibrahim took part in the orchestration. Several bands then took to the stage performing dances, each representing a different region from Saudi Arabia. Some of the most prominent bands were from Riyadh, Makkah, Asir, Jizan, and the Eastern Province. As a first this year, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs is arranging a series of lectures delivered by some ambassadors living in the Kingdom who will narrate their experiences living in Saudi Arabia. The ambassadors of France, the United Kingdom, Indonesia, and Egypt will participate this year. The 22nd Al-Janadriyah National Festival for Heritage and Culture started its activities. It is organized by the National Guard in Janadriyah, near Riyadh city. The opening ceremony included a song entitled "The Land of Love and Peace" written by Khalaf bin Mohammad Al-Khalaf, its music composed by Rabeh Saqer and sung by famous national singers like Mohammed Abdu, Abadi Al-Juhar, Khaled Abdul-Rahman and Abbas Ibrahim. The opening ceremony also included a camel race. The festival includes several activities, one of the them will be the folklore Arda dancing on February 20th. The festival will include also the Holy Qur'an memorization and recitation competition, a book fair, a fine art exhibition, cultural and religious lectures, poetry night sessions, plays. Bahrain, Kuwait and Oman take part with separate pavilions in this festival. Prince Turki Bin Sultan Ibn Abdul Aziz, Assistant Minister of Culture and Information, has lauded the 22nd national heritage and culture festival in Al Janadriyah. Prince Turki said the annual festival is a historic occasion in the field of culture and a strong evidence of the Saudi leadership's care for authentic Arab heritage, culture, traditions and values. He stressed that Saudi leaders' patronization of the festival indicates their interest in linking modernity with heritage, adding that the ministry of culture and information made appropriate preparations for this occasion in line with directives by Minister of Culture and Information Iyad Bin Amin Madani. Prince General Metib Bin Abdullah Ibn Abdul Aziz, the Assistant Deputy Commander of the National Guard for Military Affairs, and who is also the Deputy President of the Higher Committee for the National Festival for Heritage and Culture, made an inspection tour of the site of the national festival for heritage and culture at Al-Janadriyah. Prince Metib was welcomed by undersecretary of the National Guard and head of the festival's executive committee Dr Abdul Rahman Al-Subeit and other officials. Prince Metib was briefed on the final arrangements made for the inaugural ceremony of festival. Prince Abdullah Ibn Abdul Aziz Bin Mosaed Al Saud, Governor of the Northern Border Region, highlighted the importance of the 22nd National Heritage and Culture Festival describing it as a gathering for writers, intellectuals, men of letters and scholars. He pointed out that Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah's patronization of the start of the activities of the festival reflects the wise leadership's interest in and constant care for this annual festival. Prince General Miteb Bin Abdullah Ibn Abdul Aziz, Assistant Deputy Commander of the National Guard and Deputy Chairman of the Higher Committee of the National Festival for Heritage and Culture, opened the cultural activities of the 22nd session of the National Festival for Heritage and Culture at King Faisal conferences hall in Riyadh. At the venue, he was received by Iyad Bin Ameen Madani, Minister of Culture and Information, Dr. Abdul Rahman Bin Sibait Al Subeit, Undersecretary of the National Guard And Chairman of the Executive Committee of the festival and a number of officials. Addressing the gathering, Al Subeit cast light on the main themes of the festival including symposiums, lectures, poetry, drama and folklore. He said this year the festival will be addressing issues of high concern to the public, aiming at forging solutions and healing injuries of the Arab and Islamic nations. Speaking on behalf of the festival's guests, Dr. Othman Ozturk, professor of Ottoman Empire, lauded the festival as an internationally-renowned cultural and folkloric demonstration in the Arab and Islamic nation. He said it also reflects the Saudi past and present culture and folklore. Then Prince Miteb opened a plastic arts exhibition and children pavilion at Al Birr (Charity) Association in Al-Quaifel, in Al Quaieya province. In a statement following the opening ceremony, Prince General Miteb welcomed the guests in their second country and praised the exhibition on the fringes of the opening ceremony, wishing the organizers every success. The cultural extravaganza, organized by the National Guard, aims at highlighting Saudi Arabia's noble culture and heritage. Heritage models of different regions have been established in Janadriyah village north of Riyadh. Traditional handicrafts and equipment used by people in olden days are also displayed. The festival, which started in 1985, is the brainchild of King Abdullah. Every year the festival gives an award, the King Abdul Aziz Medal of the First Order, to an outstanding Saudi cultural personality. Abdullah Abdul Jabbar, a well-known Saudi man of letters from Makkah, won the award last year. The programs include an Ardah sword dance, a book show with the participation of a large number of publishers, a Quran and Hadith contest for boys and girls, performance of folklore troupes from the Kingdom's different regions, an exhibition of Saudi and Gulf artists, dramas, lectures on Islam and moderation, and the investment climate in Saudi Arabia, as well as a seminar on the need for confronting the idea of clash of civilizations. In the past 21 years, it has hosted more than 125 seminars in addition to 45 lectures on regional and international topics and 40 poetry sessions with the participation of major figures. Women play an active role in the festival with a variety of programs, but they are not allowed to mix with men. The children with special needs that will be reciting the poem praising the king are from the Jeddah's Prince Abdul Majeed Ibn Abdul Aziz Center for Children With Special Needs. The children are between the ages of seven and ten. "The children who are able to speak will recite the poem while the translator, Al-Baraa Hijji, will translate it into sign language," said Elham Harasani, director of the center. "He studied sign language when he was a primary school student in the UK where they teach the language as a school subject," she said. Elham said that the children have various talents. Some of them have the ability to memorize, paint, and write poetry. "This will build their confidence," she said. "They will be able to express themselves and show that they are talented and confident to mix and deal with people despite their handicap." As the center deals with children until the age of 10, Elham and her colleagues thought that they must follow up with them after that age. "We got the permission from the king to establish a club for both genders over the age of 10 where they can practice different events ranging from art to sports," Elham added.