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February 4, 2005 |
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***** The Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Fahd Ibn Abdul Aziz has sent a cable of congratulations to Croatia's President Stjepan Mesic on the occasion of his re-election for a second presidential term. In his own name and on behalf of the Saudi government and people, the monarch wished the President continual good health and happiness and his people steady progress and prosperity. Similar cables were also sent to the Croatian President by 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. A royal order issued announced that Prince Nawaf Ibn Abdul Aziz, the Chief of General Intelligence, has, upon his request, been relieved of his post. The royal order went on to announce that, in appreciation for the honorable services of His Royal Highness and due to the renewed need for his services, he was appointed as Special Advisor to the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques at the Royal Court in the rank of Minister. Crown Prince Abdullah Ibn Abdul Aziz, the Deputy Prime Minister and Commander of the National Guard, opened the wild life park in Rawdat Khuraim. Upon arrival, he was received by the Secretary General of the National Commission for the Protection of Wild Life and its Development Dr. Abdul Aziz Abu-Zinadah. Crown Prince Abdullah was accompanied by Prince Nawaf Ibn Abdul Aziz, the Chief of General Intelligence; Prince Saud Al-Faisal, the Minister of Foreign Affairs and Managing Director of the commission. Then Crown Prince Abdullah released a number of wild life animals in the park. Speaking on the occasion, Prince Saud Al-Faisal said as many as 132 species of wild plants and 42 species of animals are available in the park. During the tour, the crown prince was accompanied by a number of princes and senior protocol officials. Sheikh Khalifa bin Salman Al-Khalifa, the Bahraini Premier, has highlighted the success of this year's Hajj season, and praised the intensive efforts exerted by the Saudi officials to enable the pilgrims perform their rituals in comfort and ease. The remarks of he Bahraini Premier came in a telephone conversation last night with Prince Naif bin Abdulaziz, the Interior Minister and Head of the Hajj Central Committee. Prince Naif expressed appreciation for the heartfelt feelings spelt out by the Bahraini Premier, and confirmed the determination of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia to extend all possible services to the pilgrims. Prince Saud Al-Faisal, the Foreign Minister, received separately the Australian and Greek ambassadors to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, who presented to him their credentials. The meetings were attended by a number of senior officials. On the other hand, Prince Saud Al-Faisal received the Speaker of the European Parliament, who is currently visiting the Kingdom. They exchanged views on a number of regional and international issues. In line with the order of the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Fahd Ibn Abdul Aziz, the Supreme Commander of the Armed Forces and upon a recommendation of Prince Sultan Ibn Abdul Aziz, the Second Deputy Prime Minister, Minister of Defense and Aviation and Inspector General, Major General Dr. Khalaf Ibn Raden Al-Mutairi, the Director of Program of the Armed Forces Hospital was awarded here today King Abdul Aziz Ist Class Medal in recognition of his great services for the armed forces. The medal was conferred upon Khalaf by Prince Khalid Ibn Sultan Ibn Abdul Aziz, Assistant Minister of Defense and Aviation and Inspector General for Military Affairs. The Shoura Council held its 58th ordinary session following the holiday of the blessed Eid Al-Adha. In his speech, the Council's Chairman Dr. Salih Ibn Abdullah Ibn Humaid congratulated the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Fahd Ibn Abdul Aziz, the Crown Prince, the Second Deputy Prime Minister and the Saudi people on the occasion of Eid Al-Adha, wishing many happy returns, progress and prosperity for Muslims. He expressed his appreciation of and thanks to the Saudi leadership for the great efforts exerted and best services provided for pilgrims in all fields. Dr. Ibn Humaid expressed the Council's gratitude for the statement of Prince Sultan Ibn Abdul Aziz, the Second Deputy Prime Minister, Minister of Defense and Aviation and Inspector General on increasing the number of the Council's members from 120 to 150 at the outset of the 4th session. Then the council discussed a number of topics on its agenda. The Shoura Council held here today its 59th ordinary session under the chairmanship of its Chairman Dr. Salih Ibn Abdullah Ibn Homaid to discuss the basic system for organizations of Standards of the GCC member states. In a statement following the meeting, Dr. Homood Al Badr, the Secretary General of the Shoura Council, said the members discussed the 16-article system. Two annual reports of the General Organization for Social Insurance for the 1422/1423 H. and 1423/1424 H. fiscal years and an annual report of the Saudi Industrial Development Fund for the 1422/1423 H. and 1423/1424 H. fiscal years were also discussed, Al Badr said. Omani relief assistance for those affected by the tsunami which hit the region recently was distributed under the auspices of the governor of Aceh and in the presence of the Omani delegation comprising Ali bin Abdullah Al Rashdi, Sultanate's representative in Indonesia; Ali bin Ibrahim Al Raisi, executive director of Oman Charitable Organisation (OCO), a number of members of the Omani mission, the director-general of the Health Ministry in the province, the director of the general hospital, officials of the Indonesian relief force, the director-general of fisheries and other officials. The Omani assistance included two well-equipped ambulances, six tonnes of medicines and 50 well-equipped fishing boats. The province governor extended thanks and appreciation of the Indonesian government and people to His Majesty Sultan Qaboos bin Said and the Omani people for this generous gesture. The Indonesian media focused on Omani relief efforts as distribution of this assistance went live on the SC Television in Jakarta. Local papers also covered the event. The Sultanate's mission continues its relief efforts in Aceh province and the refugee camps in the region. Based on developments taking place in the sphere of biotechnology and its impacts on the society, the Ministry of Regional Municipalities, Environment and Water resources in Oman will host an international conference on biosafety from 21-23 February 2005. The Conference Objectives is to highlight issues with regard to Biosafety, latest most important scientific development, legislative laws and systems, hazards assessment, awaring on the importance of the impacts of the biosafety on the society, exchanging the information and experiences in the sphere of Biosafety. Presentations and discussions at the conference will focus on the following themes, biosafety protocols, and laws, trade & environment policies , intellectual properties, legal & administrative framework on the national, regional & international scales. The Kuwaiti cabinet lauded the great efforts exerted by the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia to facilitate performance of Hajj by pilgrims. The praise came in the cabinet's weekly session according to a press statement issued by Kuwaiti Deputy Premier, Minister of State for the Affairs of the Cabinet and Ummah (Nation) Council Mohammad Sharar. The secretaries general of Shoura, national, nation and representatives councils of Arab Gulf Cooperation Council held their 9th meeting. The meeting was addressed by Dr. Homoud bin Abdul Aziz Al-Bader, the Secretary General of Saudi Shoura Council. The secretaries approved reports of Coordination and Follow-up and Training Committees and took a number of decisions relating to parliamentary topics. President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo of the Philippines received the Saudi ambassador to the Philippines Mohammad Ameen Wali. Saudi relief aid to the victims of the earthquake and tsunami in the Philippines were reviewed. The UN Security Council renewed the mission of the United Nations Interim Forces In South Lebanon UNIFIL, noting simultaneously it will "reconsider" it in the end of the new mission. It also rejected Beirut's allegations that Shebaa farms are Lebanese. The council unanimously adopted resolution no. 1583 which states to extend for UNIFIL until July 31 2005. The current mission for UNIFIL was not amended but the UN Security Council expressed its determination to reconsider it as well as the structure of this force by the end of the new mission." In his recent report on the UN force in Lebanon, dated January 20, the UN secretary general persistently called on the Lebanese government to do its best to establish control on all its soil. For the first time, in years, the UN Security Council referred to the report drawn by Annan in May 2000, which was made following Israel's withdrawal to the border set by the UN and called the "Blue line." These borders put Shebaa farms which are occupied by Israel inside Syria's territory. UN resolution no. 1583 indicated that the UN Security Council "recognizes the Blue Line to confirm Israel's withdrawal from the Lebanese territories in implementation of UN Security Council resolution 425 ( in 1978) and that it is necessary to honor the Blue Line as whole." Annan wrote in his report that "the position of the Lebanese government which continues not to recognize the legitimacy of the Blue Line in Shebaa farms is in contradiction with the UN Security Council resolutions." Also the resolution demanded the Lebanese government to "expand and practice its authority on the south." The Swedish foreign ministry said it had asked a foreign diplomat to leave the country amid media speculation that the envoy was a Libyan diplomat expelled for spying. Tabloid Expressen said that a diplomat working at the Libyan embassy in Stockholm was in December asked to leave Sweden after he and his wife were caught trying to spy on Libyans who had sought asylum in the country. The foreign ministry refused to confirm any details. "We contacted a foreign embassy ... and asked a diplomat stationed there to leave Sweden. That person has since left," ministry spokesman Jan Janonius told AFP. Janonius said the man had "carried out activities incompatible with his mission here", the standard phrase used when diplomats are accused of spying. Government Spokesperson/ Minister of Culture Asma Khader said Jordan welcomes any initiative to extradite Ahmad Chalabi, who is wanted by the Jordanian judiciary and has been indicted for several charges. During her regular press meeting last Monday, Khader added that the Jordanian law guarantees a fair trial to Chalabi, who can also appeal the court ruling. "According to the law all Chalabi's rights to defend himself are preserved," Khader told reporters. Replying to a question on the disagreement between the Iraqi ministers of interior and defense on Chalabi's issue, Khader said "this is an internal Iraqi affair." All the decisions taken against Chalabi including his arrest have been issued by the Iraqi authorities and if Chalabi is handed over to Jordan through the Interpol, Jordan will guarantee a fair trial for him, she added. On the other hand, Khader said that Jordan looks forward to having balanced relations, based on mutual respect, with all countries. Head of the Egyptian Atomic Energy Authority Dr. Ali Islam asserted that the International Atomic Energy Agency is satisfied with Egypt's nuclear stand, and that the agency asserted the importance of notifying it with the nature of the Egyptian research activities. Middle East News Agency reported Dr Islam as saying "dialogues between Egypt and the agency and the Egyptian answers to all inquiries assured the agency that Egypt's nuclear stand is 100 percent legal". He added that "the problems that surfaced due to publishing researches by Egyptian scientists are issues in defining and explaining some technical details due to updating the guarantees' agreement signed with the IAEA since 1997". The official noted that any implementing or updating of the guarantees' system requires big efforts and long time to inform the countries that signed the non-proliferation treaty of it, noting that the difference in explaining some parts of the guarantees' system led to not informing the IAEA about some nuclear researches that are allowed in the treaty. Egypt has completely denied what was reported as having secret nuclear programs, and welcomed any visits by the IAEA to Egypt to insure the world that Egypt is free of such activities. Syrian Foreign Minister Farouk al-Sharaa said last Thursday from Moscow that his remarks regarding Syria's plan to stay in Lebanon for another two years, were not accurate. "What I said was very clear, and it is that the withdrawal of Syrian troops from Lebanon will happen gradually, and it might take two years," he said. Syria has served notice that its army might stay on in Lebanon for two more years only, asserting that its peacekeeping operation there was not an open-ended mandate. Asked by the CNN about the size of the Syrian forces in Lebanon, Foreign Minister Farouk Al Sharaa said "they were more than 40,000 six years ago but since President Bashar Assad took over the reins, he has lowered the size to 15 or 16 thousand." "How long would they stay on?" the CNN interviewer asked. "Perhaps two years. Undoubtedly we're not going to stay on forever," Sharaa said. "There is the Taif Accord which binds us and which we are strongly committed to enforce. The matter might take two years only," Sharaa went on. "We are in Lebanon to help the Lebanese. If the Lebanese do not want our help, we will stay no longer," Sharaa added. A recent Populus poll shows Tony Blair and the Labour party have a lead of 5 percent over their main rivals the Conservative party. According to the poll, Labour have support from 38 percent of voters, the Conservatives are in second place with 33 percent and the Liberal Democrats back in third with 20 percent. Other polls have provided different figures, much like those during the US election campaign, some show a Labour lead of just 3 percent, while another has Labour ahead by 9 percent. Although Tony Blair's popularity as a leader has risen over the last couple of months, 58 percent of Labour supporters polled showed a preference for Chancellor of the Exchequer Gordon Brown to be Prime Minister. Tony Blair is expected to announce the date of the general election very soon and most believe this will be in May. Should Blair and the Labour party be re-elected, as seems likely, it will equal the success of Margaret Thatcher who also won three during the eighties. With perhaps less than 4 months before the general election, it is difficult to see the Conservative party making up any ground on the Labour party and the recent problems that Labour have faced do not appear to have caused any harm to their ratings. Perhaps the only possibility of a shock result would be if the Liberal Democrats decided to use their votes in support of the Conservatives. Whilst they have encouraged people not to vote for Labour, because of the war in Iraq, they have no chance of winning themselves and may actually attract Tory voters, which could increase the victory for Blair. The Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Fahd Ibn Abdul Aziz has ordered that SR3,750,000 be appropriated for implementing a number of health programs and resort and housing projects to relieve refugees and displaced people in earthquake-and-tsunami-ravaged countries in South Asia. This work is to be performed in collaboration with the High Commission for Refugees Affairs and the World Health Organization, it was announced. Dr. Saed Al Orabi Al Harithi, Advisor to the Minister of Interior and head of the Saudi charity campaign to assist the victims of the earthquake and tidal sea waves in South Asia, told Saudi Press Agency that the programs and projects will be implemented in cooperation with these international organizations to ensure the benefit of those affected in the quake and tsunami ravaged countries. On the other hand Dr. Abdul Rahman Ibn Abdul Aziz Al Suwailim, the Chairman of the Saudi Red Crescent Society, visited the Islamic Center in the Maldives and met the Chairman of the Higher Council for Islamic Affairs Sheikh Mohammed Rasheed. During the meeting, Al Suwailim conveyed the condolences of the government and people of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia to the relatives of the victims of the earthquake and tsunami which devastated parts of a number of South Asian countries. He told Rasheed that the purpose of his current tour of the Maldives and other countries in the region is to assess the situation, estimate the requirements needed by the affected people in the region and propose the mechanisms to carry them out. Meanwhile Secretary General of the International Islamic Relief Organization (IIRO) Adnan Al-Basha has highlighted the assistance extended by the Saudi Government and people to victims of Tsunami and earthquake in South East Asia. Addressing a meeting attended by representatives of the Islamic relief organizations, Al-Basha said victims of Tsunami and earthquake in South East Asia had benefited greatly from the support extended to them by the Kingdom. He underlined the importance of enhancing cooperation and coordination among the concerned relief organizations in the Muslim world. A Cairo court has charged an Egyptian national with spying for Iran. Prosecutors said Mahmoud Eid Muhammad Dabbous was paid by the Revolutionary Guard to provide information about a number of locations in Egypt. Mr Dabbous pleaded not guilty. Iran has not had formal diplomatic ties with Egypt since the 1979 revolution when Tehran broke off relations because of Egypt's peace treaty with Israel. Mr Dabbous is also said to have made preparations for the assassination of a prominent Egyptian in return for $50,000. He said the charges were an insult to Iran, "the last bastion of Islam". "It is the target of the new globalisation. You know what is happening in Iraq, and Iran remains," he told reporters after the brief hearing. "Whether we are Shia or Sunni, we are all in the same boat and we must defend ourselves." The court also heard one charge against an Iranian diplomat, on trial in absentia, for giving Mr Dabbous money for information about the petrochemical complex in the Saudi port of Yanbu. It said the information helped Mohammad Reza Hosseindoust - who is said to have fled Egypt - orchestrate an attack in Yanbu in May, in which five Westerners were killed. Iran has denied the charges, describing them as "baseless". |