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IN BRIEF
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The Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah Ibn Abdul Aziz has sent a cable of congratulations to Sheikh Sabah al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah on the occasion of assuming power as the Emir of Kuwait. In his own name and on behalf of Saudi government and people, the Monarch wished Sheikh Sabah continual good health and happiness and the brotherly people of Kuwait steady progress and prosperity under his leadership to enhance the bonds of fraternity and friendship between the two brotherly countries and Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), Arab and Muslim nations. The King prayed to Almighty Allah to preserve Kuwait's security, prosperity and unity between its leadership and people. Crown Prince Sultan Ibn Abdul Aziz, Deputy Prime Minister, Minister of Defense and Aviation and Inspector General has sent a cable of congratulations to Sheikh Sabah al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah on the occasion of assuming power as the Emir of Kuwait. In his cable, the Crown Prince wished Sheikh Sabah continual good health and happiness and the brotherly people of Kuwait steady progress and prosperity. He expressed his confidence in the Emir's continual march of progress to achieve the aspirations of the peoples of Gulf Cooperation Council's (GCC) states, Arab and Muslim nations.
The Amir Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah received a phone call from Oman's Sultan Qaboos bin Saeed, who congratulated him on assuming the leadership of Kuwait. The Sultan underlined the high dignity Sheikh Sabah has on the regional and international arenas and his efforts in serving Arab and Islamic causes. He hoped Sheikh Sabah all the success to continue guiding Kuwait for the best of the country and citizens. Sheikh Sabah thanked Sultan Qaboos for his warm feelings and wished prosperity for the Omani people. Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah received a telephone call from the Yemeni President, Ali Abdullah Saleh, who congratulated him for being sworn in as the new Amir of Kuwait. The Yemeni President praised the prominent standing Sheikh Sabah occupies regionally and internationally and his contributions in serving the Arab and Islamic nations, wishing him luck and success in achieving further accomplishments for his country and people. In return, the Amir thanked the Yemeni President for his kind gesture, wishing him health and his country and people further development and prosperity. King Hamad Bin Essa Al-Khalifa arrived in Kuwait heading a high-ranking delegation of the Royal family and the government of Bahrain, to congratulate Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Sabah who was sworn in as the Amir of Kuwait. King Hamad was accompanied by deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Islamic Affairs Sheikh Abdullah Bin Khaled Al-Khalifa, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of transport Sheikh Ali Bin Khalifa Al-Khalifa, Head of the National Guards Major-General Sheikh Mohammad Bin Essa Al-Khalifa, Foreign Minister Sheikh Mohammad Bin Ahmad Al-Khalifa and a number of the Royal family. Meanwhile, the cabinet congratulated the Amir of Kuwait Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Sabah for swearing in before the parliament as the country's 15th amir. Minister of state for cabinet affairs Sheikh Ahmad Al-Khalifa said the cabinet warmly congratulated Sheikh Sabah and wished him lasting success. The cabinet, he added, recalled the great achievements of Sheikh Saad Al-Abdullah Al-Sabah.
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The directive of the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah Ibn Abdul Aziz to unify national holidays and schools and university holidays starting form this year 1427H has been welcomed by families and working parents, who see it as an opportunity to spend time with their families and children.
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Prince Salman Ibn Abdul Aziz, the Governor of Riyadh region, received the South African Ambassador Abdul Hamid Khabir. They reviewed bilateral relations and discussed issues of mutual interest. Prince Salman also chaired the board of directors of Al Bir society. The meeting was attended by the Grand Mufti of Saudi Arabia Sheikh Abdul Aziz Ibn Abdullah Al Al-Sheikh. Prince Salman lauded the efforts of the society and its continuous to the needy.
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Prince Salman Ibn Abdul Aziz, the Governor of Riyadh region, received the Algerian Ambassador Designate to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia Dr Al Habib Adami. They reviewed issues of mutual interest.
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Carrying out an order by Custodian of the two Holy Mosques, the Supreme Commander of All Military Forces of Saudi Arabia, Prince Khalid Ibn Sultan Ibn Abdul Aziz, Assistant Minister of Defense and Aviation and Inspector General for Military Affairs, decorated the British Chief of the Air Staff Marshal Sir Jock Stirrup with King Abdulaziz Medal of the Excellent Grade. The British Chief of the Air Staff was decorated with the medal in appreciation of his efforts to strengthen relations between the two countries.
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The Bush administration does not intend to seek any new funds for Iraq reconstruction in the budget request going before Congress in February, officials say. The decision signals the winding down of an $18.4 billion U.S. rebuilding effort in which roughly half of the money was eaten away by the insurgency, a build-up of Iraq's criminal justice system and the investigation and trial of Saddam Hussein. Just under 20 percent of the reconstruction package remains unallocated. When the last of the $18.4 billion is spent, U.S. officials in Baghdad have made clear, other foreign donors and the fledgling Iraqi government will have to take up what authorities say is tens of billions of dollars of work yet to be done merely to bring reliable electricity, water and other services to Iraq's 26 million people. Since the reconstruction effort began in 2003, midcourse changes by U.S. officials have shifted at least $2.5 billion from the rebuilding of Iraq's decrepit electrical, education, water, sewage, sanitation and oil networks to build new security forces for Iraq and to construct a nationwide system of medium- and maximum-security prisons and detention centers that meet international standards, according to reconstruction officials and documents. Many of the changes were forced by an insurgency more fierce than the United States had expected when its troops entered Iraq. In addition, from 14 percent to 22 percent of the cost of every non-military reconstruction project goes toward security against insurgent attacks, according to reconstruction officials in Baghdad. In Washington, the office of the Special Inspector General for Iraq Reconstruction puts the security costs of each project at 25 percent.
U.S. officials more than doubled the size of the Iraqi army, which they initially planned to build to only 40,000 troops. An item-by-item inspection of reallocated funds reveals how priorities were shifted rapidly to fund initiatives addressing the needs of a new Iraq: a 300-man Iraqi hostage-rescue force that authorities say stages operations almost every night in Baghdad; more than 600 Iraqis trained to dispose of bombs and protect against suicide bombs; four battalions of Iraqi special forces to protect the oil and electric networks; safe houses and armored cars for judges; $7.8 million worth of bulletproof vests for firefighters; and a center in the city of Kirkuk for treating victims of torture. At the same time, the hundreds of Americans and Iraqis who have devoted themselves to the reconstruction effort point to 3,600 projects that the United States has completed or intends to finish before the $18.4 billion runs out around the end of 2006. These include work on 900 schools, construction of hospitals and nearly 160 health care centers and clinics, and repairs on or construction of nearly 800 miles of highways, city streets and village roads. But the insurgency has set back efforts across the board. In two of the most crucial areas, electricity and oil production, relentless sabotage has kept output at or below prewar levels despite the expenditure of hundreds of millions of American dollars and countless man-hours. Oil production stands at roughly 2 million barrels a day, compared with 2.6 million before U.S. troops entered Iraq in March 2003, according to U.S. government statistics. The national electrical grid has an average daily output of 4,000 megawatts, about 400 megawatts less than its prewar level. Iraqis nationwide receive on average less than 12 hours of power a day. For residents of Baghdad, it was six hours a day last month, according to a U.S. count, though many residents say that figure is high.
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The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia took part in Cairo international book exhibition, which was inaugurated on Jan 17, 2006. Saudi cultural attaché in Cairo Mohammed al-Okeil said in press statement that the participation of the Kingdom in the show embodies the existing deep-rooted cultural relations between the Kingdom and Egypt. He noted that 37 governmental departments and publishing houses are participating in the Saudi pavilion. Al-Okeil pointed out that the ministries of higher education, culture and information, education, Islamic affairs, endowments, call and guidance, as well as the universities of Ummal Qura, Imam Mohammed Ibn Saud Islamic university, King Saud, King Abdul Aziz, King Fahd for Petroleum and minerals, King Faisal, King Khalid and Qassim in addition to Madinah-based Islamic university as well as King Abdul Aziz archives center, the institute of public administration, King Faisal center for research and Islamic studies, King Abdul Aziz public library, King Fahd national library, the literary club of Riyadh and the general organization for technical education and vocational training are participating in the Saudi pavilion.
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The World Economic Forum's Annual Meeting 2006 has closed with participants detailing new projects in disaster relief, hunger, anti-corruption, financing for development and public-private partnerships. "I was particularly impressed by this notion of 'I will'," said Founder Klaus Schwab. "That's what the purpose of this meeting is. The Forum will provide platforms for collaborative efforts so the new initiatives or ones that have been enhanced will be implemented," he told participants in Davos. The Forum issued the following statement : The World Economic Forum ended its Annual Meeting 2006 with participants pledging to take action this year towards reducing the imbalances in the global economy and the global environment to assist in the smooth and continued rise of the developing world. "We're going through a phase in our planet that we've not known before," noted James D. Wolfensohn, Chairman, Wolfensohn & Company LLC, USA; Quartet's Special Envoy for Gaza. "The world is changing around us and the issues economics, poverty, social justice and environment are the key issues that we need to address." Participants began their five days of sessions and workshops with a plenary to discuss key challenges facing the world today under the theme "The Creative Imperative". In addition to the emergence of China and India, the challenges included the changing economic landscape, the need for new jobs, for new mindsets, and the changing identities and struggles around the globe. Participants also discussed how to respond to these challenges by building trust in public and private institutions, fostering effective leadership and promoting innovation and creativity. Several new initiatives emerged, including a discussion on cooperation between the Forum's Member companies and the United Nations on disaster relief, an effort by Forum Member companies to alleviate hunger in Africa, and a plan to extend the Forum's anti-corruption initiative in concert with multilateral development banks. The Forum's Members also devised specific recommendations on how financial institutions can stimulate investment in the developing world and on how the Forum can cooperate with the UN Development Programme and various governments to expand the development of public-private partnerships. The rise of the developing world, particularly of China and India, is reshaping the economic and political order. "The dominance of the US and the dominance of Europe particularly Western Europe is eclipsed," declared Sir Martin Sorrell, Group Chief Executive, WPP, United Kingdom; Co-Chair of the Annual Meeting 2006. "What we're witnessing is a sharp shift in wealth in a relatively short period of time from West to East." This shift is exacerbating imbalances in the global economy, notably the increasingly unstable relationship between China's high rates of saving and the yawning US current account deficit. Among the recommendations that emerged from the Meeting was the need for new policies to stimulate savings in the US and promote consumption in China. Sustaining more equitable and less pollutive growth in the developing world is also imperative to discourage further conflict and social unrest among populations whose aspirations are unfulfilled. "In the world, people are really fighting two battles," observed Mukesh D. Ambani, Chairman and Managing Director, Reliance Industries, India; Co-Chair of the Annual Meeting 2006. "The developed world is fighting a battle for peace and then there's our part of the world, which is fighting a battle against poverty." Misunderstanding and resentment is by no means isolated to the developing world. Many Americans view China solely as a threat to their country's power and economic well-being, said Laura D. Tyson, Dean, London Business School, United Kingdom. The risk is that this fear will give rise to protectionist policies in the US. Economic imbalances are also creating an increasingly unstable labour market, from people losing jobs as work moves overseas to people migrating in search of jobs. Participants recommended that national social safety nets be improved to mitigate the impact of this increasingly fluid labour market. Companies also need to better prepare themselves to adapt more quickly and effectively to major disruptions in the economy. In particular, corporations need to become more innovative and creative. "We still have many cultural and procedural antibodies within our organizations that prevent us from promoting creativity," said Tim Brown, President and Chief Executive Officer, IDEO, USA. "It's going to take really strong leadership from the chief executives and leaders of companies and institutions in order to directly support a growth in innovation." But paramount among the concerns participants shared in this year's Meeting was the increasing environmental costs of development. "We are not the owners of the environment," said Renato Raffaele Martino, President of the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace, Vatican Government, Vatican City State. "We are the custodians, the stewards. The Creation is a gift to be transmitted to the next generation." Participants recommended that resources, especially water, be managed more effectively. Water management initiatives need to be developed to address urban and agricultural use of water in developing nations. In addition to the initiatives launched through the Forum, participants emphasized their responsibility to take independent action. "It is up to us afterwards to act individually to take on the issues that are the most relevant and then do something about them," said Peter Brabeck-Letmathe, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Nestlé, Switzerland; Member of the Foundation Board of the World Economic Forum; Co-Chair of the Annual Meeting 2006. "What we want to achieve is to create global trusteeship. That is what we are missing in our world," said Klaus Schwab, Founder and Executive Chairman, World Economic Forum. Schwab closed the Meeting by reminding participants: "Don't forget your global identity, your global responsibility."
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Yemen has detained 19 people on suspicion of planning attacks against Westerners on the orders of the leader of Al-Qaeda in Iraq, Abu Musab Al-Zarqawi, according to the official September 26 website. The website quoted government sources as saying those held would be questioned before possibly standing trial for planning "sabotage and terrorist attacks" in the port of Aden. "Several members of the group had returned from Iraq after Abu Musab Al-Zarqawi told them to go back to Yemen and carry out terrorist attacks, including killing American citizens," the site quoted a source as saying. It said one of the targets was the Aden Hotel and the suspects had bought arms, explosives and detonators. "This group was planning to carry out terrorist operations, including attacks on places frequented by Americans such as Aden hotel," the website said, quoting an unidentified security official. Some of the suspects came back from Iraq after Al-Zarqawi had directed them to go back to Yemen for terrorist operations, including assassinations of Americans, the website claimed. "One of the suspects who came back from Iraq, Ali Abdullah Asyan, [who called himself Abu Ali Al Harethi Jr,] and other returnees planned to take revenge for the killing of Abu Ali Al Harethi who was murdered in November 2002," said the official. Before being arrested on May 9, 2005, the group headed by Jamal Saif Abdullah Saleh, also known as Abu Obaid, had purchased weapons, explosives and remote control devices; and they designed charts and maps showing the targets. An official said the group had forged various official documents, including identification cards with fake names, and rented flats to carry out their operations. Meanwhile last Monday, files of six Al-Qaeda suspects, including four turned over to Yemen by the US, were also referred to the general prosecution. The suspects include Walid Shaher Al-Qadasi, Salah Salem Qarw, Mohammed Saleh Abdullah Al-Asad, and Mohammed Faraj Basumaila. Mohammed Hamdi Al-Ahdal, accused of being a finance officer, and Ghaleb Al-Zaidi, both arrested in Sana'a on December 2003, are also suspects. Al-Ahdal, alleged to be second man after Al-Harithi in the Al-Qaeda organization in Yemen, admitted he received hundred thousands of dollars through persons in Kuwait and in another country. According to the investigation report, Al-Ahdal would give money to the families of the detainees, prisoners, and victims. Al-Ahdal is alleged to be one of the most active members of Al-Qaeda, and is said to have fought in Chechnya and Afghanistan. After one of his legs was damaged, he is alleged to have moved into supervision and financing, and is said to have become a key link in financing Al-Qaeda operations, particularly in Yemen. He is alleged to have to received half a million dollars in 2002 for the buying of arms and explosives to conduct terrorist acts in Yemen. Yemen has cracked down on Al-Qaeda-linked militants following attacks including the bombing in 2000 of the U.S. warship Cole and an attack in 2002 on the French supertanker Limburg, but some ordinary Yemenis still support Al-Qaeda's campaign against the West. In an audio tape earlier this month attributed to Zarqawi, he urged Muslims in countries neighbouring Iraq and in Yemen to join the insurgency against U.S. forces and Baghdad's government. Bin Laden named Zarqawi as his deputy in Iraq after he pledged allegiance to the overall al Qaeda leader in 2004.
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A European Parliament investigation into alleged CIA secret prisons could ask Vice President Dick Cheney and Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld to testify, although it has no legal power to subpoena them, a member of the panel said. "Very senior people" would be asked to answer the allegations of human rights violations on EU territory, said Sarah Ludford, vice president of an investigation into the alleged prisons being conducted by the parliament. "I don't see why we should not invite Donald Rumsfeld and Dick Cheney," Ludford said. "I'm sure they would be very welcome and they would be heard with great interest, or (Secretary of State) Condoleezza Rice perhaps, why not?" Ludford, a British Liberal Democrat party member acknowledged that the parliament had no legal power to subpoena them. "I would not be over optimistic, but I don't think it's completely off the planet to think that they might come to see us," she said. The parliament committee held its first meeting Thursday, electing Portuguese Conservative Carlos Coelho as its president.
"I hope that we will be inviting very senior people from governments, from non-governmental organizations and people who have knowledge of the intelligence community," Ludford said. "If they are seen not to cooperate then I think we can draw conclusions." The work of the 46-member committee is the first inquiry conducted by the EU. Several EU countries have launched their own investigations, as has the Council of Europe, the continent's top human rights watchdog. The EU parliament committee was given a mandate to find out whether the CIA or other U.S. agencies or other countries carried out abductions, extraordinary rendition, detention at secret sites, and torture of prisoners in EU countries or have used EU countries to transfer prisoners.
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The top U.S. general in Iraq acknowledged that American forces are "stretched" but said troop withdrawals will be dictated by war strategy and not the strain faced by the soldiers. Gen. George Casey's remarks contrasted with statements made by Secretary of Defense Donald H. Rumsfeld, who disputed findings of an unreleased study conducted for the Pentagon that said the Army is overextended because of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. President Bush shrugged off the report. "The forces are stretched ... and I don't think there's any question of that," Casey said of U.S. military, which has about 155,000 troops in Afghanistan and Iraq. "But the Army has been for the last several years going through a modernization strategy that will produce more units and more ready units." Casey spoke after attending a ceremony in which Polish troops transferred leadership of the south-central region of Iraq they control to Iraqi forces, the first such large-scale handover since the Iraq war began in 2003. Casey told reporters he had discussed whether troops were stretched too thin with Gen. Peter J. Schoomaker and that the Army chief of staff believes he can still sustain missions around the world. Casey, too, was adamant that the troops, including more than 130,000 in Iraq, were getting the job done.
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US President George W. Bush said that the graphic photographs of American military guards abusing Iraqi detainees inside Abu Ghraib prison had "disgraced" the United States. However, in excerpts of an interview, conducted, with CBS News broadcast, Bush stressed that the US authorities had investigated the abuse and brought those responsible to account. "There's no question ... we were disgraced," Bush said in response to a question about America's image overseas, following the Abu Ghraib scandal. "I know it caused a lot of people who want to like us to question whether they should," Bush said, adding "equally importantly, it gave the enemy an incredible propaganda tool. "That's why it was important for us to investigate, to expose, to hold people to account, so people see there was a consequence for the behaviour," Bush underlined.
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King Hamad Bin Isa Al Khalifa issued Royal Order number 2 for 2006, on re forming the Supreme Council for Defence and specifying its authorities. The King also issued Royal Order number 3 for 2006, appointing Shaikh Ahmed bin Khalifa bin Salman Al Khalifa, as Secretary General for the Supreme Council for Defence at the rank of Minister.
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Saudi Arabia's Minister of Petroleum and Mineral Resources Ali Al-Naimi said earlier this week that the world's top oil exporter saw no reason to change current output levels. Al-Naimi also said global oil prices have been rising because of political developments and lack of adequate refining capacity.
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The threat posed by climate change may be greater than previously thought, and global warming is advancing at an unsustainable rate, Prime Minister Tony Blair said in a report published last Monday. The government-commissioned report collates evidence presented at a conference on climate change hosted by Britain's Meteorological Office last year. It says scientists now have "greater clarity and reduced uncertainty" about the impacts of climate change. In a foreword, Blair said it was clear that "the risks of climate change may well be greater than we thought." "It is now plain that the emission of greenhouse gases, associated with industrialization and economic growth from a world population that has increased six-fold in 200 years, is causing global warming at a rate that is unsustainable," he wrote. Over the next century, global warming is expected to raise ocean levels, intensify storms, spread disease to new areas and shift climate zones, possibly making farmlands drier and deserts wetter. The U.N.-backed Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change says temperatures rose by about 1 degree during the 20th century. Computer modelling predicts increases of between 2.5 degrees and 10.4 degrees by the year 2100, depending on how much is dome to limit greenhouse gas emissions. Scientists have warned of climatic "tipping points" such as the Greenland and West Antarctic ice sheets melting and the Gulf Stream shutting down. In the British report, the head of the British Antarctic Survey, Chris Rapley, warned that the huge west Antarctic ice sheet may be starting to disintegrate, an event that could raise sea levels by 16 feet. Rapley said a previous Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change report playing down worries about the ice sheet's stability should be revised.
"The last IPCC report characterized Antarctica as a slumbering giant in terms of climate change," he wrote. "I would say it is now an awakened giant. There is real concern."
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Tests carried out by a British laboratory on a dead Iraqi teenager have confirmed that she died of bird flu, the New Scientist magazine reported on its Web site. The World Health Organization (WHO), which requested the tests, declined to comment on the report, saying that it was up to the Iraqi Ministry of Health to release the results.
"There is a procedure to be followed," said WHO spokesman Dick Thompson. The New Scientist report said it had got the results from the British laboratory. Thompson said that the WHO was already acting as if the girl, who died two weeks ago, had indeed been a victim of the virus and confirmation of this would not change anything. Samples from the girl's uncle, who also died while suffering severe respiratory difficulties, a bird flu symptom, had not yet reached the WHO-affiliated lab in Britain, he said. Officials in northern Iraq said on Tuesday they were treating a further 12 patients suspected of having bird flu. The dead girl lived in northern Iraq near areas frequented by migratory birds and not far from the border with Turkey, where the WHO has confirmed 12 cases, four of them fatal. While H5N1 mostly affects birds, it has infected 160 people, mainly in Asia, and killed 85. Experts fear it could mutate to spread easily between humans and spark a pandemic that could kill millions. Meantime Saudi Arabia has culled 37 falcons after some of them tested positive to the H5 virus of the avian flu, the Agriculture Ministry said. A ministry team inspecting falcons kept in a veterinary center in Riyadh, which takes care of the birds that are usually used for hunting, discovered the cases, Saudi Press Agency quoted the ministry statement as saying. The ministry said the 37 falcons, including the five positive cases "were killed and burned." Laboratory tests are being conducted to establish if the cases also test positive for the N virus "the other component of the (bird flu) virus," it added. In November the Kingdom banned all bird imports from neighboring countries. That decision came a day after Kuwait announced a bird stricken with avian flu in the country carried the deadly H5N1 strain, in the first case of its kind in the Gulf. Another bird was found to have the milder H5N2 strain. Scientists fear that the more the virus spreads, the greater the chance that H5N1 will mutate into a form that is easily transmissible between humans, making it capable of sparking a global pandemic that could claim millions of lives. The toll from the H5N1 strain of bird flu has climbed to 80 people worldwide since 2003.
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Iran outlined proposals to the European Union to calm its nuclear row with the West last Monday, but a British official said they contained nothing new. Tehran put its ideas to officials of EU powers Britain, France and Germany in Brussels just hours before the United States and its European allies were due to try to persuade Russia and China to back tough diplomatic action against it. "We didn't hear anything new that we hadn't heard already," British diplomat John Sawers said after the talks with Javad Vaeedi, deputy head of Iran's Supreme National Security Council. Vaeedi spoke of a "positive outcome" and said more talks could be scheduled. An Iranian diplomat said his country had put forward "suggestions" at the talks, but not a compromise plan.
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