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May 27, 2005 |
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***** The Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Fahd Ibn Abdul Aziz has sent a cable of congratulations to President Ali Abdullah Salih of Yemen on his country's national day anniversary, the Saudi Royal Court reported. In his own name and on behalf of the people and government of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques wished the president continual health and happiness and his people steady progress and prosperity. In his cable, the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques also lauded the existing flourishing relations binding the Kingdom and Yemen. Similar cables of congratulations were sent to President Salih from each of Crown Prince Abdullah Ibn Abdul Aziz, the Deputy Prime Minister and Commander of the National Guard, and Prince Sultan Ibn Abdul Aziz, Second Deputy Prime Minister, Minister of Defense and Aviation and Inspector General, on the same occasion. Crown Prince Abdullah Ibn Abdul Aziz, the Deputy Prime Minister and Commander of the National Guard, received at Al-Yamamah palace the British ambassador to the kingdom Sherard Cowper-Coles. During the audience the ambassador conveyed to the Crown Prince the greetings of Britain's Queen Elizabeth II, Crown Prince Charles and Premier Tony Blair. In turn, the Crown Prince sent his greetings to the British leadership. The audience was attended by Prince Sultan Ibn Abdul Aziz, Second Deputy Prime Minister, Minister of Defense and Aviation and Inspector General; Prince Khalid Ibn Sultan Ibn Abdul Aziz, Assistant Minister of Defense and Aviation and Inspector General for Military Affairs; a number of princes and officials. Crown Prince Abdullah Ibn Abdul Aziz, the Deputy Prime Minister and Commander of the National Guard, received at Al-Yamamah palace Argentina's ambassador to the kingdom Luis Domingo who bade him farewell at the end of the ambassador's term of office. During the audience, the ambassador conveyed to the Crown Prince the greetings of Argentina's President Nestor Kirchner . In turn, the Crown Prince sent his greetings to the Argentine president. The audience was attended by Prince Sultan Ibn Abdul Aziz, Second Deputy Prime Minister, Minister of Defense and Aviation and Inspector General; Prince Khalid Ibn Sultan Ibn Abdul Aziz, Assistant Minister of Defense and Aviation and Inspector General for Military Affairs; a number of princes and officials. Prince Sultan Ibn Abdul Aziz, Second Deputy Prime Minister, Minister of Defense and Aviating and Inspector General, received the chairman of the board of directors of the Saudi Association for Information and Communication Dr. Ali Alqarni and members of the association. The chairman and members came to greet Prince Sultan and brief him on the achievements of the second forum of the association. Prince Sultan Ibn Abdul Aziz, Second Deputy Prime Minister, Minister of Defense and Aviating and Inspector General, donated SR One million to Prince Salman charitable project for housing. The donation aims at helping build housing units for poor and needy people. Prince Salman Ibn Abdul Aziz, Governor of Riyadh region thanked Prince Sultan for his donation, while the secretary of the project Dr Abdul Aziz Ibn Ahmad Al Masoud said the donation come within the framework of Prince Sultan's charitable work to build housing units for those in need. Prince Salman Ibn Abdul Aziz, Governor of Riyadh region patronized the opening ceremony of the thirteenth technical forum and the graduation ceremony of the college for technical education and vocational training. He praised the graduates and urged to work for the service of their country and its future. Prince Abdul Rahman Ibn Abdul Aziz, the Deputy Minister of Defense and Aviation and Inspector General patronized the ceremony of graduating courses from Jeddah-based Air Defense Forces Institute. Prince Abdul Rahman was accompanied by a number of princes. Upon arrival at the venue, the prince was received by a number of senior officers. A speech ceremony was held on this occasion. Prince Abdul Rahman handed prizes and certificates to the graduates. Prince Khalid Ibn Sultan Ibn Abdul Aziz, Assistant Minister of Defense and Aviation and Inspector General for Military Affairs, received the Pakistani army's chief of staff general Ahsan Saleem Hayat. During the meeting, they discussed issues of common interest. The UNESCO representative to the GCC member states Dr Hamda Ibn Seif Al Hamami praised the efforts of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and its Ministry of Education in the field of combating illiteracy. Dr Hamami said at the conclusion of the event held in Al Madinah to combat illiteracy that the UNESCO admires the efforts exerted by the Kingdom to combat illiteracy and supports them. The sister of slain ex-Premier Rafik Hariri, Bahia Hariri, has retained her Sidon seat in parliament and so did Nasserite Osama Saad as both Sunni contestants were officially declared unopposed winners in the June 5 round of the elections in predominantly Shiite South Lebanon for the nation's new parliament. No one ran against Bahia or Saad as the deadline for posting candidacies expired at midnight, which made both of them uncontested winners, said an interior ministry statement. The statement said 53 contestants were now left in the race for the rest of South Lebanon's 21 seats, which are almost certain to be captured entirely by Speaker Berri's Amal Movement and Hizbullah, which are contesting the southern elections with joint lists. Anti-American feelings are widespread in the Muslim world and extend to U.S. consumer brands, according to a report released. It suggested the U.S. burnish its image with a change in tone and by publicizing aid programs. The United States should emphasize its development aid to Muslim countries rather than try to persuade Muslims to support U.S. policies in Iraq or in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, according to the Council on Foreign Relations report. The report, by Charney Research, is based on 14 focus groups conducted last December and January among college-educated men and women in Egypt, Morocco and Indonesia. Anger at U.S. foreign policy and at the U.S. government dominated spontaneous reactions in all three countries. All focus group members rejected U.S. views of the war in Iraq, saying the United States invaded on a false premise to further its own regional goals. Focus group members saw the United States and Israel as synonymous and estimated the proportion of Jews in the U.S. population at up to 85 percent; it is 2 percent. The report found negative opinions of the United States are taking a toll on U.S. companies, and that amounts of U.S. aid were massively underestimated; not one person in any focus group knew the U.S. is the world's largest donor by dollar amount. "Most Egyptians and Indonesians put U.S. support for their countries over 10 years in millions; the correct figures were $7.3 billion and $1 billion, respectively," the authors said. When asked what they wanted from the United States, focus group members said respect and aid to develop as their countries choose. Israel answered a request from Gulf Arab state Qatar and backed its bid for a two-year term on the U.N. Security Council despite a lack of full diplomatic relations. The Gulf nation asked Israel to back its candidacy for a non-permanent seat after Asian nations endorsed the bid, Israeli Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Amira Oron said. After weighing the appeal, Israel has "decided to support Qatar's candidacy for a seat of the non-permanent members of the Security Council", she said. Oron said it was the first time Israel had supported an Arab state with which it lacks full diplomatic relations for one of the non-permanent seats. Iraq demanded that the Arab League enlist fight on terrorism issue on the agenda of Arab Information Ministers Council via an official statement issued by the Iraqi government. An Arab League source said, the league decided to include the issue of fighting terrorism in the agenda of the Permanent Arab Media Committee which will be held on June 3rd and 4th. The committee will then refer the issue to the ministers council which will take the decision to whether enlist or discard the issue in the council's agenda. The ministers council meeting will be held on June 8th and 9th of this year. The meeting of the Arab Information Council will be titled "Arab Media Role in Confronting Terrorism," the source added. The last Arab Summit, which took place in Algeria, declared its stand toward this issue, indicating an Arab condemnation to all acts of violence and sectarianism that target Iraqi civilians, policemen, military forces, civil and religious organizations in Iraq. The Arab League's Secretary General of Amr Moussa expressed "his extreme concern over dangerous developments in Iraq following the murder of ulemas (religious scholars) and imams (prayer leaders) in mosques," his spokesman said in a statement. He also urged "all Iraqi parties to show restraint and act responsibly in the face of those who try to sow the seeds of discord between Iraq's communities". Lebanon's Prime Minister Najeeb Miqati received the Saudi Ambassador to Lebanon Dr. Abdul Aziz Ibn Mohyeddin Khoja. During the meeting, fraternal relations between the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and Lebanon in all fields and ways of enhancing them were reviewed. The Saudi Ambassador to Kuwait Ahmad Ibn Hamad Al Yahya has denied news published by the Kuwaiti newspaper Al Siyasa saying that the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia intends to launch a satellite channel in Spanish. The statement issued by the Saudi embassy in Kuwait said the Ambassador has not made any statement in this context while attending a symposium at Kuwait university, but he stressed the importance of the expansion of the Islamic culture. An U.S. law enforcement official says a grenade found near the site where President Bush spoke in Tblisi, Georgia was capable of exploding. The statement from FBI agent Brian Parmen contradicts initial reports from Georgian officials who said the grenade was inactive. Mr. Parmen says the grenade presented a threat to President Bush, Georgian President Mikhail Saakashvili, and the tens of thousands of Georgians who attended the May 10 speech in Tblisi's Freedom Square. He says the grenade failed to explode only because of a malfunction with the triggering device. Officials in the former Soviet republic have offered an $11,000 reward for information about how the grenade ended up at the site. Yemen denied Israeli allegations on þsmuggling weapons to Palestinian territories by Yemeni officials.þ A foreign ministry official in Yemen told reporters that Yemen is not þastounded on such "false allegations" which attempt to spark tensions.þ The official considered those allegations as a tool to demean Yemen's þcourageous stand in supporting the Palestinian right to have an independent þcountry with Al-Quds (Jerusalem) as its capital. Educational, cultural and sports activities held under the slogan "We deserve Lebanon ... We deserve Rafiq Hariri, Sidon is a city for all, a city for life," kicked off with the Sidon Marathon. The activities, which concluded on May 22, were the initiative of Sidon MP Bahia Hariri, the sister of slain former Premier Rafik Hariri, and organized by schools in Sidon and surrounding towns. Some 5,000 students from public and private schools in Sidon and Tyre participated in the marathon. A rally was also held in Makassed Square under the patronage of Hariri, who told participating students: "We run toward the future like the martyr Rafiq Hariri did so that we deserve Lebanon and we deserve Rafiq Hariri." "You are the future of this country," she told the students, adding that Sidon had been brought back to life thanks to their initiatives and efforts. In the same context and under Hariri's patronage, the Future Scouts Association organized the Sidon Rally Paper for secondary class students. The rally paper included questions about Rafiq Hariri's relationship with Sidon. Bahia Hariri told young participants in the rally paper: "We rely on you to contribute not just to the revival of this city but to all of Lebanon." Sayyid Fahd bin Mahmoud Al Said, deputy prime minister for the Council of Ministers, received Abdul Rahman bin Hamad Al Attiyah, secretary-general of the Arab Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), currently visiting Oman as part of a tour of the region. Conversation during the meeting centred on the GCC march and the role of GCC institutions in implementing policies adopted by GCC leaders. They also reviewed topics on the agenda of the upcoming GCC consultation summit. The deputy prime minister for the Council of Ministers pointed out the attention Sultan Qaboos bin Said gives to making the GCC march a success, stressing the need to perceiving requirements of the next stage of joint action in light of latest developments in the international arena. Sayyid Fahd also underscored the significance of these consultations and contacts to realise common interests and fulfil the aspirations of the Gulf citizens in stable, advanced and prosperous communities. The meeting was attended by Yousuf bin Alawi bin Abdullah, minister responsible for foreign affairs. The GCC secretary-general told Oman News Agency (ONA) in a statement that he had briefed Sayyid Fahd on the topics to be discussed by the seventh consultation summit of GCC leaders scheduled in Riyadh. Abdul Rahman bin Hamad Al Attiyah commended the considerable support the Gulf joint action receives from Sultan Qaboos bin Said which has a positive impact on pushing it forward in different spheres, something that contributes to boosting the cooperation council and the progress of its peoples. Kuwaiti Prime Minister Sheikh Sabah Al Ahmed Al Jaber Al Sabah has received a written message from Yousuf bin Alawi bin Abdullah, minister responsible for foreign affairs, dealing with bilateral relations. The message was delivered to the Kuwaiti premier by Sheikh Salim bin Suhail bin Mahad Al Mashani, the Sultanate's ambassador accredited to Kuwait, when he was. The premier and the ambassador discussed issues of common concern and ways of developing various aspects of cooperation between the two brotherly states. Seif al-Islam Gadhafi, son of Libya's long-standing leader Muammar, expressed openness to dealing with Israel during the world economic forum in Jordan this weekend. Responding to a question by a Haaretz reporter, he said, "I have no problem speaking with Israelis or working together with them." Relating to Libya's policies regarding Israel, Gadhafi said, "The Palestinians are holding contacts with Israel, and I can't be more Palestinian than the Palestinians." Gadhafi also said he "supports one state for two peoples." He noted, "Arabs and Jews can live together in a federal state under one government." "In the past," said Gadhafi, "we thought foreign investments were a way to control us from within - this has changed. We want to attract more tourists, and for this purpose we are gradually cancelling the requirement to obtain a visa in advance in order to visit Libya." |