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March 12, 2004 |
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SAUDI ARABIA EXPRESSES ITS SATISFACTION OVER THE SIGNING OF IRAQ'S INTERIM CONSTITUTION. THE CABINET APPROVES THE RECOMMENDATIONS SUBMITTED BY THE MINISTERIAL PANEL FOR ADMINISTRATIVE ORGANIZATION ON RESTRUCTURING THE CIVIL AVIATION SECTOR. PRINCE SULTAN IBN ABDUL AZIZ RECEIVES A MESSAGE FROM THE YEMENI PRIME MINISTER. PRINCE SULTAN IBN SALMAN OPEN AN EXHIBITION ON THE ARCHAEOLOGY OF THE KINGDOM OF SAUDI ARABIA. CONCLUSION OF THE 8TH MEETING ON THE BORDERS BETWEEN SAUDI ARABIA AND OMAN. Crown Prince Abdullah Ibn Abdul Aziz, Deputy Prime Minister and Commander of the National Guard chaired the cabinet's weekly session at Al-Yamamah palace in Riyadh. At the outset of the session, the Crown Prince briefed the Cabinet on a report on all situations and on Arab, Islamic and international latest developments. In a statement to the Saudi Press Agency following the session, the Minister of Culture and Information Dr. Fuad Ibn Abdul Salam Al-Farsi pointed out that the Crown Prince informed the Cabinet of the contents of talks, meetings and consultations held in the previous days with a number leaders and officials of brotherly and friendly countries which focused on uniting international efforts to achieve security, stability and peace for all countries and their peoples, especially in the occupied Palestinian territories and Iraq. Dr. Al-Farsi said that the Crown Prince briefed the Cabinet on the outcome of his talks with Pakistan's President Pervez Musharraf and Kazakhstan's President Nur Sultan Nazarbayev which focused on enhancing ways of joint cooperation between the Kingdom and the two brotherly countries for the interest of their peoples, the Muslim nation and Islam. Condemning the brutal military operations carried out by the forces of Israeli occupation army in the Palestinian Gaza Strip which led to the killing of 15 persons and wounding of scores, the Cabinet stressed that the continuation of Israeli forces against the Palestinian people in series of killing and destruction poses an insistence on challenging the world community, obstructing the possibility of achieving a just and comprehensive peace, and consolidating Israel's escalatory policies which aim to impose unilateral steps by the use of force. On the situation in Iraq, the Cabinet stressed the Kingdom's denunciation of the bloody events in Baghdad and Karbala city which led to the killing of the innocents of the brotherly Iraqi people, and the Cabinet expressed the warmest condolences for the deceased people and wished the injured a quick recovery. The Cabinet expressed its satisfaction over the agreement on Iraq's interim constitution and its signing, hoping that this will lead to the set up of an independent government and to Iraq's restoration of sovereignty and independence. The Minister of Culture and Information added that the Cabinet was briefed by the Foreign Minister on a report on the 121st session of the Arab League Council recently concluded in Cairo. The Cabinet stressed the necessity of activating a joint Arab action and pursuing the achievement of the League's full potential to confront the challenges faced by the Arab nation along with the accelerating developments of events at regional and international arenas. Dr. Al Farsi said the cabinet then reviewed the domestic items on its agenda and issued a number of decisions as follows: The Cabinet approved the recommendations submitted by the Ministerial Panel for Administrative Organization, chaired by Prince Sultan Ibn Abdul Aziz, Second Deputy Prime Minister, Minister of Defense and Aviation and Inspector General, on restructuring the civil Aviation sector. According to the recommendations, the Civil Aviation Authority should be transformed into a public organization of a legal personality, financially and administratively independent. The new organization will be run according to commercial considerations. The Civil Aviation Authority's new Board of Directors will be formed of the following: 1. The Minister of Defense and Aviation and Inspector General as chairman 2. The Assistant Minister of Defense and Aviation and Inspector General for Civil Aviation Affairs as Deputy Chairman 3. The representatives of the Ministries of Transport, Finance, and Economy and Planning as members 4. At least three representatives of the private sector as members Upon recommendations of the Minister of Defense and Aviation and Inspector General, who is also Chairman of the Tourism Higher Authority (THA), the following have been appointed members of the Board of Directors of the THA for three years, effective from the date of enforcing this decision: Eng. Adel Ibn Mohammed Ibn Abdul Qader Faqih, Faisal Ibn Fahd Ibn Turki Al-Sidairi, Ibrahim Ibn Abdul Rahman Al-Bilaihi, Eng. Rashid Ibn Saad Al-Rashid, Dr. Ahmed Ibn Omer Ibn Mohammed Al Aqeel Al-Zailaee, Yahya Ibn Mardi Ibn Suwaileh Al-Zahrani, and Dr. Ali bin Isa Ibn Mohammed Al-Sha'abi. The Cabinet approved the recommendations submitted by the ad hoc committee, earlier formed by the cabinet to study the situation of graduates of public education, and the set up of the most appropriate training institutions for them to meet the requirements of the labor market. The Committee was also assigned to study the issue of recruiting workforce from outside the Kingdom in general and to put plans capable of qualifying enough numbers of Saudis in specializations needed by the Ministry of Education in the future. The Cabinet also approved a number of regulations, organizing the items that could be published in the official gazette, including royal decrees and orders, their appendices, treaties, concession contracts, cabinet decisions, regulations and resolutions. The Cabinet approved the appointment of Abdul Mohsin Ibn Saud Ibn Abdullah Al-Dighaither as Director General for Financial Affairs and Budget at the Air Forces; Faisal Ibn Abdul Aziz Ibn Mohammed Al-Nassar as Director General of the Main Office of Youth Welfare in Riyadh Region, and Ali Ibn Abdul Aziz Ibn Ali Al-Mahmoud as Director General for Girls Education in Jeddah. Head of the Presidency of Civil Aviation (PCA) Eng. Abdullah Ibn Mohammed Nour Rahimi praised the decision of the Council of Ministers to transform PCA into an independent commission of a distinctive administrative status which goes in line with the country's attempt to promote productive sectors and to give more financial and administrative flexibility to this commission. In a statement to the Saudi Press Agency (SPA), Rahimi noted that the civil aviation sector in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia is an important one as it has a direct impact on economic and social development in the country. "This Cabinet decision to transform PCA into a Commission will enhance the civil aviation sector to a viable industry that could have all features of global dynamism notably swift development and high-level of competitiveness. On the other hand Prince Sultan Ibn Abdul Aziz, Second Deputy Prime Minister, Minister of Defense and Aviation Minister and Inspector General, received a message from Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh. The message was delivered to Prince Sultan by Yemeni Minister of Trade and Industry Dr Khaled Rajih Sheikh during a meeting in Riyadh. The meeting was attended by Dr Musa'ed Ibn Mohammad Al-E'ban, the Minister of State and a member of the Cabinet, and Yemeni Ambassador to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia Khaled Al-Akwa. Prince Sultan Ibn Abdul Aziz, Second Deputy Prime Minister, Minister of Defense and Aviation and Inspector General, has also received the Turkish Ambassador-designate to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, Ugour Doughan. Prince Sultan Ibn Abdul Aziz received separately the ambassadors of Uganda and Albania, Dr. Mohammad Ahmad and Suleiman Tomcini respectively, who came to greet the Secon Deputy Prime Minister on the occasion of the end of their diplomatic assignments in the Kingdom. Prince Sultan Ibn Abdul Aziz, Second Deputy Prime Minister, Minister of Defence and Aviation and Inspector General also received the Chinese Ambassador to the Kingdom Wu Chi Nihau. During the receptions, they exchanged cordial talks. On the other hand an official source at the Ministry of Interior denied the news published in a newspaper saying that Prince Naif Ibn Abdul Aziz the Minister of the Interior has donated SR 100 thousand to a sports club. The source said the news is false and Prince Naif Ibn Abdul Aziz has not offered any donation to a special club as he cares about all sports clubs for their services to the country. Meanwhile in the Omani capital Muscat the 8th meeting between borders authorities in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia ended. The Omani side was chaired by Major General Mohammed Ibn Abdullah Al Rayami, Assistant General Supervisor of the Police and the Saudi side was presided over by Staff General Talal Ibn Mohsen Al Anqawi, Director General of the borders Guard. During the meeting issues of mutual interests were discussed and the two delegations issued a number of resolutions, specified the work mechanism to implement the resolutions and both sides agreed on continuing their contacts for the benefit of each countries and people. In Riyadh Prince Sultan Ibn Salman Ibn Abdul Aziz, the Secretary General of the Higher Tourism Commission, received Dr Kamal Oghli, the Director of Istanbul-based History, Arts and Islamic Culture Research Center, an affiliate of the Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC). They reviewed aspects of cooperation between the Higher Tourism Commission and the Istanbul-based Research Center. The meeting was attended by a number of senior officials. Prince Sultan Ibn Salman Ibn Abdul Aziz, the Secretary General of Tourism Higher Authority, said that the first challenge for Saudi tourism industry is how to attract Saudi tourists, noting that this will be proved in the first five years of implementing the general policy of promoting local tourism. In a paper about administrative experience in the Tourism Higher Authority he presented at the 2nd Administrative Forum, organized by Saudi Society of Administration, Prince Sultan added that tourism industry is not a goal of itself but a means to diversify national income, increase production and create jobs. Prince Sultan Ibn Salman Ibn Abdul-Aziz, the Secretary General of the Higher Commission for Tourism, stressed that the Kingdom's archaeology sector will witness big changes and development under its affiliation with the Commission. Speaking to reporters following an opening ceremony of an exhibition entitled "the Archaeology of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia," Prince Sultan Ibn Salman said: "This sector will have a new development plan with regard to explorations, documentations, publications and training." He stressed that this sector will have special benefits with its affiliation to the Commission, noting that the Commission works through a systematic plan with respect to preparation and development of the archaeology sector and protection of the Kingdom's national heritage and historical sites. "We have now 10 on-going exploration schemes. We are looking forward to have 100 or 200 projects. We have set up new rules in cooperation with the Ministry of Education for this stage (of development) and we will apply additional new rules in the next stage (of development)," he noted. Prince Sultan expressed optimism that the government would support this sector with the necessary budgets in order to set up an information data base through archaeological surveys in the Kingdom. "We will be able to have land surveys for all historic sites in the Kingdom within five years," he said. On the other hand Al-Safi-Danone, the largest integrated dairy farm in the world with an area of 35 sq. km launched a social awareness campaign in cooperation with Prince Salman Center for Disability Research (PSCDR). A total of SR5 million will be donated by Al-Safi-Danone to PSCDR to promote its research programs and to carry out a disability awareness drive, according to a report published by Arab News. Prince Sultan Ibn Salman Ibn Abdul-Aziz, Chairman of the PSCDR Board of Trustees, said that the private initiative would help to integrate handicapped children into the mainstream of Saudi society. "The PSCDR is the first research facility of its kind in the Arab world working to improve the quality of life for handicapped people," said Prince Sultan Ibn Salman. The launching ceremony of the campaign was attended by Muhammad Ibn Abdul Aziz Al-Sarhan, Managing Director of Al-Safi-Danone. On the other hand Prince Turki Ibn Nassir Ibn Abdul Aziz, the General President of Meteorology and Protection of Environment, has announced the launch of the Prize of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia for Environmental Management in the fields of Scientific Research in Environment Management and Pioneering Practices in government, private sector and non-governmental organizations in the Arab world. In a press conference in Jeddah, Prince Turki said the prize was launched upon an initiative of the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Fahd Ibn Abdul Aziz to encourage environmental practices in compliance with the instructions of Islam. He said the biennial prize, which amounts to SR750,000, aims at consolidating the concept of environmental management in the Arab world through founding the principles and means of perfect modern management to solve problems which hamper the achievement of sustainable development. Meanwhile Saudi Arabia stressed that it had incurred environmental huge damages, caused by Gulf War 1991, which also led to the destruction of the Kingdom's ecological systems and natural resources. In a speech before the Governing Council of the United Nations in Geneva today, Prince Turki Ibn Nassir Ibn Abdul Aziz, General President of Meteorology and Environment of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, said that unless this damage was repaired and measures of rehabilitation were taken, the next generations would be threatened. In his speech, Prince Turki Ibn Nasser sought to clarify the Saudi view about the compensations of environmental damages of 2nd Gulf War. He conveyed the Kingdom's demand to be given priority in compensations for the damages which were testified by U.N experts. The Persian Gulf War of 1991 brought serious environmental damage to the region. The world's largest oil spill, estimated at as much as 8 million barrels, fouled gulf waters and the coastal areas of Kuwait, Iran, and much of Saudi Arabia's Persian Gulf shoreline. In some of the sections of the Saudi coast that sustained the worst damage, sediments were found to contain 7 percent oil. The shallow areas affected normally provide feeding grounds for birds, and feeding and nursery areas for fish and shrimp. Because the plants and animals of the seafloor are the basis of the food chain, damage to the shoreline has consequences for the whole shallow-water ecosystem, including the multimillion-dollar Saudi fisheries industry. The spill had a severe impact on the coastal area surrounding Madinat al Jubayl as Sinaiyah, the major industrial and population center newly planned and built by the Saudi government. The spill threatened industrial facilities in Al Jubayl because of the seawater cooling system for primary industries and threatened the supply of potable water produced by seawater-fed desalination plants. The Al Jubayl community harbor and Abu Ali Island, which juts into the gulf immediately north of Al Jubayl, experienced the greatest pollution, with the main effect of the spill concentrated in mangrove areas and shrimp grounds. Large numbers of marine birds, such as cormorants, grebes, and auks, were killed when their plumage was coated with oil. In addition, beaches along the entire Al Jubayl coastline were covered with oil and tar balls. The exploding and burning of approximately 700 oil wells in Kuwait also created staggering levels of atmospheric pollution, spewed oily soot into the surrounding areas, and produced lakes of oil in the Kuwaiti desert equal in volume to twenty times the amount of oil that poured into the gulf, or about 150 million barrels. The soot from the Kuwaiti fires was found in the snows of the Himalayas and in rainfall over the southern members of the Community of Independent States, Iran (former Soviet Union), Oman, and Turkey. Residents of Riyadh reported that cars and outdoor furniture were covered daily with a coating of oily soot. The ultimate effects of the airborne pollution from the burning wells have yet to be determined, but samples of soil and vegetation in Ras al Khafji in northern Saudi Arabia revealed high levels of particles of oily soot incorporated into the desert ecology. The UN Environmental Programme warned that eating livestock that grazed within an area of 7,000 square kilometers of the fires, or 1,100 kilometers from the center of the fires, an area that included northern Saudi Arabia, posed a danger to human health. Moreover, to these two major sources of environmental damage must be added large quantities of refuse, toxic materials, and between 173 million and 207 million liters of untreated sewage in sand pits left behind by coalition forces. On the other hand the Grand Mufti of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia Sheikh Abdul Aziz Ibn Abdullah Al Al-Sheikh, who is also the President of Senior Ulema (Muslim Scholars) Council and President of 'Ifta' and Scientific Researches Department, delivered a lecture entitled 'The Responsibility of the Security man'. During the lecture, he stressed the importance of security for life and religion. "We are living amidst bitter realities in all Muslim countries which face hostility, " he said. He also stressed the importance of security of thought which could protect religion, behaviors, and (rational) thinking. The Mufti wished security men all success in their mission which he described as a great responsibility. He reiterated Islam's total opposition to terror. Sheikh Abdul Aziz Al-Al Sheikh emphasized that terror and violence must be "mercilessly" crushed. "Islam has forbidden violence in all its forms. It has forbidden hijacking airplanes, ships and other means of transport and has forbidden all acts that would undermine security," The Grand Mufti added. "God says the penalty for those who fight God and His Prophet and spread violence and terror is to be killed, crucified or have their hands and legs chopped off," he said. The mufti added, "Islam has also called for the killing of anyone who attempts to undermine legitimate rulers or divide Muslims." The world must know that Islam is the religion of peace and mercy and goodness; it is the religion of justice and guidance. It is a religion that prohibits all forms of injustice and the shedding of blood without genuine reason," he explained. "Islam has made the fulfillment of treaties and pledges compulsory and has given importance to protecting the blood of allies," he said. Sheikh Abdul Aziz, the Kingdom's highest religious authority, said a true Muslim who intended to serve Islam would never try to undermine the Ummah. "Jihad does not mean shedding the blood of Muslims or killing peaceful people or destroying their properties," he said and urged Muslims to act prudently and wisely and not be driven by emotions or passions. "Jihad was made lawful not to shed blood or to take revenge but as a kind of worship of God and one of the religious duties for defending the Islamic nation," he pointed out. The mufti urged those who raise the slogan of jihad to consider carefully for a time if what they were doing was really in accordance with the teachings of the Qur'an and Sunnah. Jihad has a wide meaning in Islam, he said. Calling people to God's message, promoting good relations between Muslims and carrying out one's duties are part of jihad. He condemned the attitude of some extremists who brand others infidels or enemies of God. He urged Muslims to strengthen their faith in God and live in accordance with His teachings for success in this world and the hereafter. Islam is a complete way of life and is suitable to all times and places. "If anyone accepts something other than Islam as his religion, it will not be acceptable. |
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