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Snapshot of the Week Past |
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Nations Try to Foster Goodwill With U.S.
"The Saudi Arabian government is asking Saudi
businessmen, researchers and students to visit the
United States to talk about their country, said
Adel al-Jubeir, the top foreign policy adviser to
Saudi Arabia's de facto ruler, Crown Prince
Abdullah. He acknowledged that the fact most of
the Sept. 11 hijackers were from Saudi Arabia cast
his country in a negative light for many
Americans. Al-Jubeir said U.S.-Saudi friendship is
strong, but like any relationship it needs
constant attention and nurturing.."
Saudi Arabia Insists Israel Sign NPT
"Saudi Arabia yesterday insisted that Israel
sign the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT)
and open its nuclear facilities to international
inspectors. "This should be made a basic
condition for any future security
arrangement," the Council of Ministers said
in a statement.."
Kingdom Streamlines Flow of Funds to Charities
Abroad
"Saudi Arabia yesterday decided to streamline
private donations for relief work and humanitarian
activities abroad in order to prevent them from
reaching 'suspicious hands'.. ..The Council of
Ministers said payment of all private donations
for charity work outside the Kingdom has to be
made through the Saudi Private Commission for
Relief and Charitable Activities Abroad.."
Saudi Woman Wins UN Award for Work With NGOs
"A Saudi female sociologist has won this
year's UN21 Award for her work with NGOs in the
Kingdom. Dr. Mona Al-Munajjed received the award
for her project entitled, "Activating the
Role of Women's Welfare Associations in Saudi
Arabia." It is one of four winning projects
selected out of 60 by the UN21 Award's high-level
approving panel.."
France Backs Saudi Bid to Join WTO
"France backs the admission of Saudi Arabia
to the World Trade Organization, which should be
decided upon in December, French President Jacques
Chirac said.. ..Saudi Arabia's bid to join the WTO
has foundered in the absence of a bilateral
Saudi-US admission agreement. But the parties
agreed in April to complete negotiations in order
to allow Riyadh's accession to the Geneva-based
global trade monitoring body by the end of the
year.."
Saudi Arabia Urges Consumer Nations To Build Oil
Refineries
"Saudi Arabian Oil Minister Ali al-Naimi
urged consumer countries to build more refineries
amid warnings that OPEC could do little to stem
high oil prices or a shortage of finished
petroleum products. "The supply is here,
inventories are building, there is certainly no
shortage of supply - so build, build
refineries," Naimi told reporters.."
Saudi King To Face Divorce Case
"A divorce case against King Fahd of Saudi
Arabia, said to be worth £32bn and among the
world's richest men, is to be heard in a British
court. London-based Janan Harb has filed a claim
that she is one of the king's wives and that he
has failed to provide reasonable maintenance for
her. The case will be heard in public after appeal
court judges decided the ailing monarch's identity
is relevant. His lawyers say he cannot be sued in
the UK as he has 'sovereign immunity'.."
UAE Talks Successful, Naif Says
"Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates
are in total agreement on the border issue,
Interior Minister Prince Naif said yesterday after
talks with UAE President Sheikh Khalifa ibn Zayed
and other top Emirati officials.. ..Asked when the
two countries would sign the final border pact,
Prince Naif said: 'There is already an agreement
signed in 1974. What is remaining is minor issues
to make it complete'.."
First Saudi Female Pilot Graduates
"The Kingdom's first woman pilot, Hanadi
Zakaria Al-Hindi, graduated yesterday from the
Middle East Academy for Commercial Aviation in
Jordan. 'It is a source of pride for us,' said
Muhammad Audeh, chairman of the academy's board of
directors, at a graduation ceremony where she
received her civil aviation license.. ..Al-Hindi
expressed joy at graduating and said she would
return to Saudi Arabia to work on a private plane
owned by Prince Al-Waleed ibn Talal who paid the
costs of her studies in Jordan.."
OPEC Adopts Two-Prong Plan to Stifle Oil Prices
"OPEC adopted a two-pronged plan to tackle
high oil prices and supply problems yesterday,
raising the cartel's oil production ceiling next
month and promising another increase later if
prices do not fall. But after its ministerial
meeting in Vienna, the Organization of Petroleum
Exporting Countries also warned consumer nations
and the oil industry that they must tackle a
refinery bottleneck which it blames for driving
oil prices above $55 a barrel.."
Emaar Activities In Saudi Arabia Suspended
"The Saudi government has frozen the
operations of the Dubai-based Emaar Properties
until a lawsuit filed against it by its joint
venture - Saudi Emaar - is settled.. ..Emaar has
been accused of violating a contract signed
earlier with its partners to set up Saudi Emaar
and failing to commence profitable projects,
reports have indicated.."
Saudi Arabia Exempt From Nuke Inspections
"The U.N. atomic watchdog agency approved a
deal Thursday that keeps nuclear inspectors out of
Saudi Arabia despite an international push to
scrap such arrangements because they can be abused
by proliferators. International Atomic Energy
Agency board members also focused on a report
revealing discrepancies about Iran's plutonium
experiments and other suspect activities. The
United States warned it would never let Iran
develop nuclear arms.."
Saudi Arrests Five Chadians For Murder Of
Frenchman
"Saudi Arabia said on Wednesday it had
arrested five Chadians for the murder of a French
engineer and several armed robberies in the Gulf
state last year.. ..Frenchman Laurent Barbot, who
worked for a defence electronics firm, was shot in
his car as he left a late night supermarket in the
Red Sea city of Jeddah last September.."
Nuclear Pact Was Signed at Riyadh's Initiative:
Kurdi
"Saudi Arabia signed the Small Quantities
Protocol (SQP) of the nuclear Non-Proliferation
Treaty (NPT) on Thursday. Omar Kurdi, Saudi
ambassador to Vienna, and Mohamed Al-Baradei, head
of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA),
inked the protocol that exempts the Kingdom from
nuclear inspections. Kurdi said the pact was
signed at Riyadh's initiative and the Kingdom
would inform the global energy watchdog its use of
nuclear energy for industrial and research
purposes.."
Saudi Firms Get Top Places in FT500 Global
"Eight Saudi companies including Saudi Basic
Industries Corp. (SABIC), Saudi Telecom Co. (STC)
and Samba Financial Group have found their places
on a list of the world's top 500 companies
published by Financial Times recently. Other Saudi
companies that secured a place on FT500 Global for
the year 2005 were: Al-Rajhi Banking &
Investment Company, Saudi Electricity Company
(SEC), Riyad Bank, Saudi British Bank (SABB) and
Etihad Etisalat.."
Saudi Stock Index Touches All-Time High
"Most of Arab stock markets ended week with
all-time highs as analysts expected bourses to
extend gains in the coming few weeks, drawing
fresh momentum from early leaks of strong
performance in the year's second quarter and
surging oil prices. The Saudi stock market
continued to rise for the second consecutive week
as the Tadawul All-Share Index (TASI) closed at an
all-time high of 13,288.87 points.."
Special Agency to Track Down Illegal Financing
"The Interior Ministry has announced that it
will soon establish a special department for
tracing illegal financial activities in the
Kingdom. "The Interior Ministry is in the
final stages of completing the procedures for
establishing a department which will track down
illegal financial activities," Maj. Gen.
Mansour Al-Turki, the ministry's official
spokesman.. ..the department's responsibilities
would include uncovering money laundering
operations which is part of the ministry's efforts
to combat terrorism in the Kingdom.."
Officer Killed in Drive-By Shooting
"Gunmen shot dead a senior Saudi security
officer outside his house in Makkah yesterday, an
Interior Ministry spokesman said. Gen. Mansour
Al-Turki said unidentified gunmen shot the
security officer just after he stepped out of his
house. An informed source identified the murdered
officer as Lt. Col. Mubarak Al-Sawat from the
General Investigation Department. The source said
the officer, in his 40s, received more than 10
gunshots, adding that police were investigating
the drive-by shooting.."
Saudi 'Police Killers' Shot Dead
"Two alleged militants suspected of killing a
police chief in Saudi Arabia have been shot dead
by security forces, the Saudi interior ministry
says. They are accused of killing the head of a
police investigations department in the holy city
of Mecca three days ago.."
Saudi Arabia Leads Gulf In Pharmaceutical
Production
"A report published by the Gulf Organization
for Industry Consulting noted that Saudi Arabia
was leading the AGCC countries in terms of the
number of pharmaceutical factories (27) and the
volume of investment in the industry (US$ 619
million), followed by UAE which has 8 factories
and invested US $ 64,2 million and then Kuwait,
Qatar, Oman and Bahrain.."
'Democracy Won't Be Imposed'
" The United States has no plan to impose
democracy on Middle Eastern countries, US
Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said early
today. "It's up to the countries in the
region to implement democracy. Our role is just to
speed up the democratization process," she
said.."
Businessman Settles Libel Suit Against UK
Newspaper
"A libel case brought by Saudi businessman
Yousef Jameel against the UK newspaper Sunday
Times has been settled, according to a statement
released by Jameel's counsel. The terms of the
settlement were not disclosed.. ..In a statement
read in the High Court in London on Wednesday, the
Times accepted that Jameel was not a supporter of
Osama Bin Laden or Al-Qaeda and expressed its
regret if the article gave readers a different
impression.."
Ritz-Carlton Keen to Establish Presence in the
Kingdom
"The Ritz-Carlton Hotel Company, which claims
to offer "unrivaled luxury and legendary
service," is surveying properties across
Saudi Arabia to establish its presence.
"We're interested in properties in Riyadh and
Jeddah, and of course in Makkah," Marc F.
Dardenne, Ritz-Carlton's vice president and area
general manager based in Dubai, told Arab News on
the sidelines of a Gulf-wide road show.."
Saudis Dismiss Rice's Criticism
"Saudi Arabia has played down an appeal by US
Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice for democratic
reform and the release of three political
prisoners. Ms Rice made the call before arriving
in Riyadh to meet de facto Saudi ruler Crown
Prince Abdullah and the foreign minister, Prince
Saud al-Faisal. Prince Saud said afterwards that a
country's own people were best placed to determine
how it should reform.."
Saudi Arabia Tells U.S. It Can Pump More Oil
"Saudi officials told Secretary of State
Condoleezza Rice the kingdom could not solve the
U.S. refinery bottlenecks that have helped to push
oil prices toward $60 a barrel, a Saudi source
said on Tuesday. The source said the issue of
Saudi Arabian oil output had been raised during
Rice's visit. 'Yes, it was raised,' said the
source familiar with the talks. 'But our position
is clear. We can increase production, but America
can't produce gasoline, they have refinery
shortages'.."
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Secretary
Rice Roundtable
Secretary
Rice, Foreign Minister Saud Al-Faisal Meet
the Press
First Saudi
Female Pilot Graduates
