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October 8, 2004 |
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**** The Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Fahd Ibn Abdul Aziz sent a cable of congratulations to Britain's Prime Minister Toni Blair on the successful heart surgery he has undergone. Following news that Blair has undergone a successful cardiac catheterization and was discharged from hospital, The Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques sent the cable, wishing him continuous health. Similar cables were sent to Blair from Crown Prince Abdullah Ibn Abdul Aziz, the Deputy Prime Minister and Commander of the National Guard, and Prince Sultan Ibn Abdul Aziz, the Second Deputy Prime Minister , Minister of Defense and Aviation and Inspector General. The Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Fahd Ibn Abdul Aziz has sent cables of congratulations to Presidents of China Hu Jintao; Guinea Lansana Conte; Germany Horst Koehler; Nigeria Olusegun Obasanjo and Cyprus Tassos Papadopoulos on the anniversaries of their countries' National Days, Independence and German Unity. In his own name and on behalf of the people and government of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, King Fahd wished them good health and constant happiness and their peoples steady progress and prosperity. King Fahd also lauded the existing ties between the Kingdom and these countries. The Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Fahd Ibn Abdul Aziz, has issued a royal decree to appoint Mohammed Ibn Saleh Al Kharashi as governor of the General Organization for Retirement. Crown Prince Abdullah Ibn Abdul Aziz, Deputy Prime Minister and Commander of the National Guard, has said that all citizens and residents are responsible in conserving water. In a statement marking the launch of the national campaign on awareness about the rationalization in the use of water and the conservation of water, Crown Prince Abdullah said that "we have to conserve water and set a fine model for the entire world in using it carefully." He added that the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia is one of the poorest countries in water resources and it depends on the production of water desalination, which is expensive, and ground-water resources, which are not renewable. "Despite this scarcity and these high costs (of producing desalinated water), we find that the average of individual's daily consumption is one of the highest in the world," said Crown Prince Abdullah. He pointed out that the Ministry of Water and Electricity will launch the national campaign of awareness and conservation of water which aims to make citizens fully informed of the importance of consuming water carefully. He said that the Ministry will distribute free conservation tools that enable citizens to reduce their consumption to the one-third average of the current usage. "I would like to remind all citizens and residents to cooperate with the concerned bodies to reduce consumption and install these tools immediately since we have taken into consideration the actual cost of drinking and other uses of water," the Crown Prince added. Crown Prince Abdullah Ibn Abdul Aziz, Deputy Prime Minister and Commander of the National Guard, received a message addressed to the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Fahd Ibn Abdul Aziz from Norway's King Harald V. The message was delivered to the Crown Prince during an audience with Norwegian Ambassador to the Kingdom Peter Rider. The ambassador conveyed the greetings of the Norway's King to King Fahd and the Crown Prince who, in turn, sent his greetings to the Norwegian King. The ambassador bade farewell to the Crown Prince at the end of the ambassador's term of office in the Kingdom. The audience was attended by Prince Dr. Bandar Ibn Salman Ibn Mohammed Al Saud and Abdul Mohsin Ibn Abdul Aziz Al-Tuwaijri, Advisors at the Crown Prince's Court; and Dr. Nizar Obaid Madani, Assistant Foreign Minister. Crown Prince Abdullah Ibn Abdul Aziz, Deputy Prime Minister and Commander of the National Guard, separately received France's ambassador Bernard Poletti and Bangladesh's ambassador Sayyid Khajah Sharhabil Hassan who bade farewell to the Crown Prince at the end of their terms of office in the Kingdom. The two ambassadors conveyed the greetings of French President Jacques Chirac and Bangladeshi leadership to the Crown Prince who, in turn, sent his greetings to the French president and the Bangladeshi leadership. The audiences were attended by Prince Dr. Bandar Ibn Salman Ibn Mohammed Al Saud and Abdul Mohsin Ibn Abdul Aziz Al-Tuwaijri, Advisors at the Crown Prince's Court; and Dr. Nizar Obaid Madani, Assistant Foreign Minister. Prince Sultan Ibn Abdul Aziz, the Second Deputy Prime Minister, Minister of Defense and Aviation and Inspector General has presided the 4th meeting of the General Organization for Food and Medicine. During the meeting a number of issues on the agenda were discussed. Prince Sultan Ibn Abdul Aziz, the Second Deputy Prime Minister, Minister of Defense and Aviation and Inspector General received U.S. Former Ambassador to the Kingdom and Chairman of the Council of Middle East Policies Chas Freeman. During the meeting, they discussed the latest developments in the Middle East. The meeting was attended by the Council's Executive Director Richard Wilson. Prince Sultan Ibn Abdul Aziz, the Second Deputy Prime Minister, Minister of Defense and Aviation and Inspector General, has sent a message to Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh dealing with the bilateral relations between the two countries. The message was handed over to President Saleh by Saudi ambassador to Yemen Mohammed Ibn Mirdas Al-Qahtani during a meeting in Sanaa. Prince Sultan Ibn Abdul Aziz, the Second Deputy Prime Minister, Minister of Defense and Aviation and Inspector General, received Portugal's Ambassador Designate to the Kingdom Dr. Henric Manuel Silvera Pogos. During the reception, they exchanged cordial talks and reviewed cooperation between the two friendly countries in various fields. Prince Salman Ibn Abdul Aziz, the Governor of Riyadh region, received the Belgian ambassador to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia Rudi Schellinck. They reviewed issues of mutual interest. Prince Salman Ibn Abdul-Aziz, the Governor of Riyadh Region, received Chas. W. Freeman, the Former U.S. Ambassador to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and President of the Middle East Policy Council. During the reception, they discussed the current events in the Middle East. The reception was attended by Richard Wilson, the Executive Director and the Council's Director of Development. Prince Salman Ibn Abdul Aziz, Governor of Riyadh Region, patronized the Community Service Prize handing ceremony. The prize covered four branches including environment, housing and fighting poverty, health care and prisoners care. The winners of the prize were Prince Sultan Ibn Mohammad Ibn Saud Alkabeer, Prince Alwaleed Ibn Talal Ibn Abdul Aziz, Prince Mohammad Ibn Khalid Ibn Abdullah Al-Faisal, Mr. Abdullah Ibn Solaiman Al Moqairin, Mr. Hamad Ibn Mohammad Ibn Saidan, Eng. Nasir Ibn Mohammad Almotawe', Dr. Nasir Ibn Ibrahim Al Rasheed, Mr. Faisal Ibn Mosaed Alseef, Sheikh Salih Ibn Abdul Aziz Al Rajhi and Mr. Mohammad Ibn Abdul Aziz Al Jomaih. Prince Salman handed the prize to the winners and highlighted in a statement on the occasion the importance of charitable work and helping the poor. Prince Saud Al-Faisal has sent a message to his Yemeni counterpart Dr Abu Bakr Al Qarbi. The message contains an invitation to Dr Al Qarbi to attend the Conference on Terrorism due to be held in Riyadh between the 5th and the 8th of February 2005. The message was deliverd by the Ambassador of the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques to Yemen Mohammed Ibn Mirdas Al Qahtani. Prince Abdul Rahman Ibn Abdul Aziz, Deputy Minister of Defence and Aviation and Inspector General praised the achievements of Saudi Airlines SAUDIA. He lauded the services offered to passengers during the summer season. In a letter addressed to SAUDIA managing director Dr Khaled Ibn Bakr, Prince Abdul Rahman Ibn Abdul Aziz expressed his thanks to all members of staff of Saudi Airlines for their efforts. From his side Dr Khaled Ibn Bakr said the figure for the month of August this year is 1,89,458 passengers - a 13% increase over the same period in 2003. This is the highest number ever carried by the Airline for a period of one month. Dr. Khaled A. Ibn Bakr, Director General, Saudi Arabian Airlines attributed this achievement to the guidance and support of Prince Sultan Ibn Abdul Aziz, Second Deputy Prime Minister, Minister of Defense and Aviation and Inspector General and Chairman of the Board of Directors of Saudi Arabian Airlines Sheikh Salih Ibn Abdul Aziz Al Al Sheikh, the Minister of Islamic Affairs, Endowments, Call and Guidance, has refuted the recently-circulated accusations against the reformist movement of Sheikh Mohammed Abdul Wahab in the 12th century.The remarks came in a book published by the Public Relations and Information Department of the Ministry of Islamic Affairs, Endowments, Call and Guidance.The book included a lecture given during the First Forum for the Call of Sheikh Mohammed Abdulwahab in Riyadh seven months ago by Sheikh Salih Al Al Sheikh. In a poll on the dangers of the Israel's Dimona nuclear reactor undertaken by Amman Net broadcasting station, the majority of Jordanians interviewed expressed their belief over the harmful effects of the reactor's radiations on Jordan. þ The results of the poll said that 84% of those polled stressed the presence of effects of the Israeli reactor. The results showed the beliefs of citizens that the ratio of cancer in Jordan is high indicating the arrival of cancerous radiations from the Dimona reactor into Jordan's environment.þ Minister of Finance Dr Ibrahim Al-Assaf, addressing in Washington DC a meeting of the International Finance Corporation (IFC), a World Bank (WB) affiliate, affirmed that the economic measures adopted last year by the Saudi government had led to a minimum rate of inflation as well as surpluses in the country's foreign account and State budget. He went on to describe the Kingdom's healthy economic situation as having enabled its private sector to play a pioneering role in the process of diversification of the country's economic base. Dr Al-Assaf also spoke about the Kingdom's role regionally and internationally, and its efforts to join the World Trade Organization (WTO). He cited a strong global demand for oil, plus factors such as tense situations in certain parts of the world, as having an impact on oil prices, and stressed the need for cooperation among oil producing and oil consuming countries in order to preserve oil price stability under the auspices of the Riyadh-based International Energy Forum. Sultan Qaboos bin Said granted an audience at his office in Bait Al Barakah to General John Abizaid, commander-general of the American Central Command. They reviewed aspects of existing cooperation within the context of strong bilateral relations. The audience was attended by Lt- General Ahmed bin Hareth Al Nabhani, chief of staff of the Sultan's Armed Forces; the US ambassador to the Sultanate and the delegation accompanying the guest. Dr. Abdul Rahman Al-Suwailem, president of the Saudi Red Crescent Society presided over the 5th meeting of Darfur Relief CommitteeThe meeting discussed the accomplishments in relief works in Darfur region and approved preparations to send 60 thousand food baskets to Sudan and Chad and to send medical and technical team to the region. Syrian Foreign Ministry issued a statement saying; having read the report of the UN Secretary General regarding the Security Council resolution No. 1559/ 2004, appreciates the efforts exerted by the UN Secretary General in preparing his report, and reiterates its respect of the UN charter and its goals. The statement of the Foreign Ministry said Syria also highly appreciates stances of the UNSC member states, which didn't accept to target Syria's name in this resolutionThe statement added that Syria announces commitment to the document of the Lebanese National Pact ( Taif ) of 1989. The statement added Syria sees that the real reasons behind the unstable conditions in the region is the absence of the just and comprehensive peace as a result of Israel's continued defiance of the UN Charter, its rejection to implement the UN resolutions and its violations of Geneva Convention in the occupied Arab lands. "We were and still hope that the UN SC assumes responsibilities and compel Israel to implement more than 40 resolutions issued by SC which demand Israel to withdraw from the occupied Arab lands in 1967 as a basis to establish a just and comprehensive peace in the region" the statement said. "Syria reiterates willingness to cooperate with the UN Secretary General to seek the best ways to achieve the hope with which he concluded his report. Three men appeared in court accused over an alleged dirty bomb plot following a News of the World investigation. Roque Fernandes, 43, and Abdurahman Kanyare, 52, both of Edgware, north London, and Dominic Martins, 44, of Stanmore, Middlesex, were charged under the Terrorism Act. They are accused of having involvement in a plot to supply dangerous radioactive material to a third party between July 20 and September 25 this year. The threedressed casually in sweatshirtsspoke only to confirm their names and addresses. They sat in silence and listened attentively as the charges against them were read out during a five-minute hearing at Horseferry Road Magistrates' Court, central London. The court then heard how the defendants had been arrested last week by detectives from the Metropolitan Police Service anti-terrorist branch after allegedly attempting to buy radioactive material. Under Section 17 of the Terrorism Act 2000 they were charged "that they entered into, or became concerned in, an arrangement as a result of which money or other property was made available, or was to be made available to another, and knew or had reasonable cause to suspect, that it will or may be used for the purposes of terrorism". Miss Sue Hemming, prosecuting, alleged: "These three men were involved in an arrangement whereby a substance called red mercury was going to be supplied for the purposes of terrorism." She added that the radioactive material, costing £200,000 to £300,000 per kilo, had "no legitimate use". The three were remanded into custody to appear before Bow Street magistrates on November 1. A police van escorted by an unmarked police car later sped the three away from the court to an undisclosed prison. The charges follow a six-week undercover investigation by our reporter Mazher Mahmood and his teamrevealed in last Sunday's News of the World. Posing as a Muslim extremist, he arranged meetings with the suspects, secretly recording their conversations. And unknown to the trio, the News of the World also worked closely with Scotland Yard's anti-terrorist experts. On September 24, a final rendezvous with the suspects was agreed at the Holiday Inn at Brent Cross, north London. But after tipping off Scotland Yard, teams of surveillance officers and armed marksmen surrounded the high-rise building. Then, as the suspects left the building, anti-terrorist cops pounced. And in seconds the stunned men were pinned to the ground at gunpoint and arrested. A fourth man was later arrested at this home in north London. Deputy Assistant Commissioner Peter Clarke, head of the Metropolitan Police Service anti-terrorist branch, said: "After consultation with the CPS three men have been charged with offences. The General Secretariat of Arab Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) condemned Israel's continual aggressive operations in Gaza which led to the Killing of scores and wounding hundreds of civilian Palestinians. In a statement issued, the Secretariat called on the world community, the Quartet Committee and the United Nations Security Council to promptly intervene to halt Israel's state-terrorism and continual aggression on the unarmed Palestinian people. The Minister of Petroleum and Mineral Resources Eng. Ali Ibn Ibrahim Al-Naimi met with Azerbaijan's Minister of Energy and Fuel Macid Karimov. During the meeting, they discussed bilateral cooperation between the two countries in the field of oil and the situations in the world oil market. The meeting was attended by Prince Abdul Aziz Ibn Salman Ibn Abdul Aziz, Assistant Minister of Petroleum for Petroleum Affairs; Prince Faisal Ibn Turki Ibn Abdul Aziz, Advisor at the Ministry and Abdul Rahman Ibn Mohammed Abdul Kareem, Ministry's Undersecretary for Companies Affairs. Later, the two ministers signed a joint statement on the Azerbaijan's minister visit to the Kingdom and its results. The statement said that the two ministers agreed to develop economic relations in the field of oil and gas. They also agreed to continue dialogue and exchanged opinions on the developments of the world oil market. The Minister of Petroleum and Mineral Resources Eng. Ali Ibn Ibrahim Al-Naimi said that the signing of a joint statement between the ministry and Azerbaijan's ministry of energy and fuel today came as a result of good and strong relations between the two countries. In a press statement following the signing ceremony, Al-Naimi said that he and Azerbaijan's Energy and Fuel Minister Macid Karimov discussed a number of topics especially the situation in the oil market. ''Our mission as major producers of this vital energy in the world lies in coordinating our efforts for the stability of the world market and for maintaining moderate prices for consumers, producers and the world economy,'' Al-Naimi said. He added that the statement dealt with technical cooperation, noting that there will be visits between technicians in the two countries and meetings between oil companies to enhance cooperation in this field. On his part, Karimov said that the statement will be a good basis for the development of cooperation between the two countries in oil and gas fields and it will serve the joint interests of the two countries. Abdullah Ibn Saleh Al-Obeid, head of the Saudi National Human Rights Association (NHRA), has strongly criticized the US State Department report on religious freedom in Saudi Arabia, saying none of the thousands of Christian expatriates in the Kingdom has complained of harassment as regards their religious freedom, the Arabic language daily Al-Watan reported. Obeid also said in an interview with Gulf News that Washington has no right to interfere in people s religions to decide what should come within religious freedom and what should not. He told the papers that religious freedom relates to the upholding of human rights and these were being overseen by the United Nations through the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and its protocols as well as other relevant commissions. In none of these bodies has the issue been raised, how then can any country, the US or other, raise a religious issue of extreme sensitivity, he said. He said the State Department s report that was critical of religious freedom in Saudi Arabia was a source of concern. The United States has no right to interfere in peoples religious convictions, he said. Obeid said no one sought to seek the opinion of the different religious sects in Saudi Arabia or even the opinion of the Christian communities working and living in the Kingdom, some of whom were Western nationals, to determine if there was any violation of religious freedoms as claimed. There are several Islamic schools of thought in the Kingdom including the Jaafari, Shafie, Hanafi, Maliki in addition to the Shiite sect. Have the followers of any of them been asked their opinion about alleged suppression of religious freedom? he asked. He went on to say, Everyone is aware of the statement issued by Sheikh Hassan Al-Saffar stating that despite the differences of opinions within the country, it will not be allowed to be exploited internationally. He said at a time when the entire world was seeking to avoid politicizing religion or directing politics through religion, how could the State Department dare to interfere in peoples religions and convictions and decide what was considered part of their freedom and what was not. Asked by Gulf News if the timing of the report has to do with the American election, he said, he did not think so since it was an annual report, but it was the media hype about the alleged religious persecution in the kingdom that was intended for election considerations. Secretary of State Colin Powell said he regrets the Bush administration said that Iraq had stockpiles of weapons of mass destruction in its argument for war, but he believes the world is better off without Saddam Hussein. Following a speech to the Atlanta Press Club last Friday, Powell defended the bulk of his presentation to the United Nations in February 2003 in which he made the case for war in Iraq. "The only thing where we got it wrong and where our presentation did not hold up was the actual stockpiles," Powell said. "We've seen nothing to suggest that he had actual stockpiles. That was not right." He added, "As we've gone back and looked through the intelligence, there are indications that we had bad sourcing that we should have caught. For that I am disappointed and regret that that information was not correct." A Senate Intelligence Committee's report on prewar intelligence about Iraq found that much of the information provided or cleared by the CIA for inclusion in Powell's speech to the United Nations "was overstated, misleading or incorrect." Nevertheless, Powell noted that the war has led to the ouster of Saddam, and for that he believes the world will be safer. Saddam had used weapons of mass destruction against his own people and Iraq's neighbors -- contentions that were also used as part of Bush's argument for war. "So, he had a history, the intention of doing it, he was hiding things, he was not responding to the demands of the international community," Powell said of Saddam. An official source from the Omani Ministry of Health has said a story carried by a foreign newspaper and circulated by news media regarding the Sultanate's import of blood products that might be contaminated was an old one and first published in a newspaper years ago. The source said the ministry, at the time, had even offered all the details and affirmed the company had not been registered during that time. The Ministry of Health official said the ministry had stopped importing blood from abroad since 1991 and since then the ministry has depended on local sources. As for the ministry's needs from other blood derivatives, the source said, they are supplied by reputed international companies and after ensuring that requirements were met for their safety from communicable diseases. In addition, the source said, the Sultanate obtains these products through an AGCC unified purchasing system. The source affirmed the ministry has adequate facilities to ensure the safety of blood and blood derivatives used in the Sultanate. An official spokesman on behalf of Chris Patten the European Commissioner for Foreign Affairs stressed that the EU will not issue any decision with regards to travelling to Saudi Arabia as a result of the killing of the French citizen Laurent Barbot. The Spokesman said the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia is cooperating in the fight against terrorism and its efforts have lead to discovering many terrorist cells. Internal Security forces in Lebanon have foiled a terrorist attack, when they discovered a bomb hidden in a garbage truck in front of the Fatwa building in Beirut. Experts detonated the bomb and the area was sealed off. Investigations are taking place. The International Monetary Fund's (IMF) top policy-making group failed to close divisions over debt relief for the world's poorest countries. "The committee has decided that further work on this must be done so that we have a proper framework for debt sustainability," said Gordon Brown, Britain's finance minister, who chairs the International Monetary and Financial Committee. Seated beside IMF managing director Rodrigo Rato, Brown told reporters new ways had to be found to cancel the debt owed by poor nations to multilateral lenders. While the US has also called for 100% debt relief in some countries, its plan depends on juggling existing funds rather than providing new money. "It was generally agreed that we would have to find additional funding to finance the next stage of debt relief, and that it, therefore, has to be funded by some new mechanism and not by some form of substitution," Brown said. Debt relief for poor countries is currently dealt with under the Heavily Indebted Poor Countries (HIPC) initiative, managed by the IMF and World Bank. Currently, 27 countries, the bulk of them in Africa, have qualified for some form of HIPC debt relief. The IMF this week extended the initiative by two years to 2006. Brown said he recently committed £100-million a year to pay off 10% of the debt about 30 impoverished countries owe to the African Development Bank and World Bank. He said he hoped other countries would follow his lead. The British minister has proposed a revaluation of the IMF's massive gold stocks, which would not involve sales, as a way of raising additional cash for debt relief. The IMF's 103-million ounces of gold is one of the biggest bullion caches in the world. Brown denied his proposal to revalue IMF gold had run into opposition. He said the Group of Seven had agreed to examine the idea and voiced optimism it would succeed. "I don't think in most countries there is an ideological problem with this," Brown said, pointing out that around $2,6-billion of cash for debt relief had been realized through off-market gold transactions in 1999. He said various off-market transaction proposals would be examined to release proceeds from the gold holdings, which Brown said was valued at one-eighth of current market rates or about $50/oz. An official communique from Saturday's IMFC meeting made no mention of Brown's gold revaluation plan nor of a 100% debt write-off. The communique said the global economy was poised for continued growth, although high oil prices were a risk. "The committee notes that downside risks to the recovery have recently increased, stemming in part from the increase and volatility in oil prices," the communique said. The procedure to correct a heart "flutter" plaguing British Prime Minister Tony Blair was a success and he is at home recovering, the hospital treating him said. Blair greeted reporters outside his Downing Street residence just hours after the procedure for a condition that causes a sometimes irregular, rapid heartbeat. "I'm absolutely fine thanks. The hospital staff, the nurses, the doctors were brilliant,'' he said. Blair, 51, was first diagnosed with an irregular heartbeat in Oct. 2003, and was said to have recovered from the minor problem. It is caused by rapid electrical activity in the upper parts of the heart. "The procedure was successful in eliminating the atrial flutter," London's Hammersmith hospital said in a statement. "We consider the risk of a recurrence of the problem to be very low." Sultan Qaboos bin Said and Dame Silvia Cartwright, governor-general of New Zealand, held a session of talks at His Majesty's office in Bait Al Barakah. They discussed the sound bilateral relations and ways of enhancing growing cooperation in various spheres in the interest of the Omani and New Zealand peoples. Matters of common concern at the regional and international arenas were also reviewed. The talks were attended from the Omani side by Maqbool bin Ali Sultan, minister of commerce and industry; Sheikh Salim bin Hilal Al Khalili, minister of agriculture and fisheries; Dr Rawyah bint Saud Al Busaidiyah, higher education minister; Sayyid Badr bin Hamad Al Busaidi, Foreign Ministry undersecretary; Mohammed bin Yousef Al Zarafi, Sultanate's ambassador to Japan and non-resident ambassador to New Zealand. It was also attended by the delegation accompanying the governor-general of New Zealand. Dr Nizar Ibn Obaid Madani, Assistant Foreign Minister, received on behalf of Prince Saud Al-Faisal, respectively at his office the Ambassadors of Danemark, Benin and India, who delivered copies of their credentials to be presented to the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Fahd Ibn Abdul Aziz. The audiences were attended by Mohammed Al Nuwaissar head of the royal protocol. Dr Nizar Ibn Obaid Madani, Assistant Foreign Minister, received the French Ambassador to the Kingdom Bernard Poletti. On Behalf of Prince Saud Al-Faisal he presented the French Ambassador with the King Abdul Aziz decoration of the first order, for the efforts exerted during his mission to enhance Saudi-French relations. The audience were attended by Mohammed Al Nuwaissar head of the royal protocol. Favorable US public reaction to Senator John Kerry's performance in the first presidential debate of the current campaign has boosted the Democratic nominee and narrowed his contest with Republican President George W. Bush to a tie, according to new USA Today/CNN/Gallup poll published last Monday. Bush's lead of eight percentage points before last Thursday's debate evaporated in the survey taken last Friday through Sunday. Support among likely voters for Bush and Kerry was tied at 49 percent with independent candidate Ralph Nader taking one percent. As it enters its final month -- the election is set for Nov. 2 -- the presidential campaign is essentially where it began: too close to call. "This is an even-up race that's going to be decided by everything that happens in the next 30 days," a USA Today report quoted Mark Mellman, Kerry's pollster, as saying. Matthew Dowd, chief strategist for the Bush campaign, called the dead heat no surprise. "We always said this race would be tight -- when we were up andwhen we were down," he said. The first debate drew a TV audience of at least 62.5 million, the report said, and Kerry was judged the winner by more than two-to-one, 57 percent to 25 percent. Kerry reclaimed an advantage on the economy in the poll, leading Bush 51 percent to 44 percent. Before the debate, Bush waspreferred on the issue for the first time, leading Kerry by six percentage points, 51 percent to 45 percent. Bush's 14 percentage point advantage on handling Iraq was cut in half, dropping from 55 percent to 51 percent, while support for Kerry on the issue edged up from 41 percent to 44 percent. On terrorism, Bush continued to hold a big advantage, leading Kerry 56 percent to 39 percent, though the gap was narrowed to 17 percentage points from the 27 percentage point lead Bush held on Sept. 26. Bush and Kerry will meet face to face in their second presidential debate this Friday. Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdullah bin Isa Al Harthy, minister of transport and telecommunications and chairman of Oman Telecommunications Company (Omantel), has issued a resolution endorsing the organisational structure of the company. The second article of the resolution empowers the vice-president for Networks and Technology to supervise sectors of Networks Systems, Informatics and Information Technology while the third article empowers the vice-president for Corporate Resources and Customer Services to supervise the sectors of finance, HR, Customer Services, Marketing and Administrative Development including the company's business in Governorate of Dhofar, Strategic Planning, Projects Management, Information & PR, Tenders and Contracts, General Services and Quality and Performance. Al Harthy also issued a decision effecting some appointments in Omantel. The decision appoints Engineer Mohsin bin Hassan Al Raisi as vice-president for Networks and Technology and Engineer Tariq bin Ali Al Amri as vice-president for Corporate Resources and Customer Services. The new appointments in Omantel is in line with the restructure of the company and would further contribute and speed up the on-going preparation for the fresh stage of competition and privatisation and enable the company keeps pace with the growing telecom industry worldwide. Holding a Bachelor of Science (Electronic Engineering) from Temple University, Philadelphia, PA, USA in 1988, Engineer Mohsin Al Raisi joined the company right at the beginning of his career as a transmission engineer. He was later redesignated as head of Call Center Section, manager of Data Department, general manager of Networks Services and later on general manager of Network Systems and Informatics. Engineer Tariq Al Amri brought in an ample experience to Omantel. Holder of Bachelor of Science (Electronic Engineering) from Temple University, Philadelphia, PA, USA, in 1989 and master's degree in Business Administration from University of Dayton, Ohio, USA in 1996, Al Amri served in many senior positions. He was a project engineer for a three-year in PDO, manager of Investment in the Pension Fund for seven years, head of Finance Strategy in Oman LNG then general manager of finance unit in Omantel in early 2004. |