Mohammed Rasooldeen, Special to Arab News
RIYADH, 22 February 2004 — US diplomats and their families who left the Kingdom two months ago for security reasons have been cleared to return.
“The directive, which will be carried out with immediate effect, will bring in families that left the Kingdom two months ago,” Robert Keith, press attaché at the US Embassy, told Arab News.
The families will start arriving from today, he said.
However, Keith said US citizens should be alert to security concerns and potential threats of terrorist attacks in the Kingdom. “American citizens should continue to evaluate their own security situations,” he said.
In a press statement, the embassy said the United States was confident that Saudi authorities were capable of protecting both citizens and foreign residents.
The lifting of restrictions comes against the backdrop of a continuing crackdown on terror suspects here following suicide bombings of residential compounds in Riyadh in May and November last year which killed 52 people.
The Kingdom has since arrested more than 200 terror suspects and unearthed large caches of weapons from all over the country.
Last week, Riyadh residents were alerted against a GMC Suburban car registered in the name of a wanted militant and alleged to be rigged with explosives which could be triggered in an attack.
Kingdom Not Aware of US Democracy Initiative, Says Prince Saud
French President Jacques Chirac welcomes Foreign Minister Prince Saud Al-Faisal at the Elysee Palace in Paris on Saturday. (AFP)
Paul Michaud, Special to Arab News
PARIS, 22 February 2004 — Foreign Minister Prince Saud Al-Faisal said yesterday Saudi Arabia is yet to be officially informed of a new US initiative to promote democracy in the Arab world. He said the initiative would be taken up at an Arab summit in Tunis on March 29-30.
Speaking after talks here with French President Jacques Chirac, the Saudi minister said the Tunis summit would also discuss a Saudi Middle East peace plan, adopted at an Arab League summit in Beirut two years ago.
The Saudi plan offers to normalize Arab relations with Israel in return for full withdrawal from territories seized in the 1967 Arab-Israeli war.
“We hear the press talk of this (US) initiative but we have not received anything official about it,” the prince said. “Since it concerns the Middle East, it will certainly be discussed at the Arab League (summit).”
Earlier this month, US Secretary of State Colin Powell said Washington was considering a major international initiative aimed at encouraging democratic reforms in the Middle East and was looking for ways to “institutionalize” such a project.
Prince Saud said his talks with Chirac had emphasized the “broad convergence of views between Saudi Arabia and France.”
A French presidential spokeswoman said Chirac and Prince Saud had agreed that any democratic initiative for the Arab world should be pursued in parallel with a revival of Israeli-Palestinian peace talks.
“France and Saudi Arabia share the view that an initiative aimed at backing modernization and reform in the Arab and Muslim world must necessarily be coupled with a revival of a negotiated solution to the Israeli-Palestinian problem,” she said.
Prince Saud is on a European trip of France, Belgium, Switzerland and Poland. The trip aimed at reviving the road map which targets the creation of a Palestinian state in 2005 but which has made little progress since its launch in June.
Neither Chirac nor the presidential spokeswoman reacted publicly to a statement made by Prince Saud in Bern. The prince accused the international community of double standards regarding nuclear weapons in the Middle East since it did not question Israel’s nuclear arms.
A French foreign policy source noted, however, that Chirac “was aware of the statement” and that “on a personal basis” he shared Prince Saud’s concern.
The foreign policy source said Chirac “would inevitably have to deal with the issue of Israeli nuclear weapons, if only because it was France which in the 1950s played a pivotal role in providing Israel with the materials that allowed it to build its first nuclear devices and permitted Tel Aviv to construct its nuclear testing facility at Dimona.”
Prince Saud also suggested that he was not opposed to the terms of a Middle East plan put forward by French Foreign Minister Dominique de Villepin.
Prince Saud also emphasized Saudi Arabia’s efforts to institute comprehensive reforms covering economic, political, educational, judicial and administrative fields.
In an address at the European Policy Center in Brussels, Prince Saud said it was not Islam but injustice and depravation which were to blame for the spread of terrorism.
“It is not at all reasonable to accuse a 1,400-year-old culture and civilization of being a breeding ground for terrorism. Your enemy here is not Islam and Muslims. The enemy is the various forms of injustice and deprivation that prevail in the Arab and Islamic world,” he said. “Such a situation provides a fertile ground for terrorism which is the real enemy and we are all partners and able to confront this evil,” the prince said, calling for joint international efforts to combat all forms of terror.
M. Ghazanfar Ali Khan, Arab News Staff
RIYADH, 22 February 2004 — In a move to attract Saudi students, the Canadian Embassy will hold two seminars to introduce Canada as a destination for Saudi students and also as a source for contract training for government and private sector organizations.
Canadian Ambassador Roderick Bell said the educational seminars would be held in Jeddah and Riyadh on Feb. 23 and Feb. 25 respectively.
“The seminars are significant since in 2003 Saudi Arabia sent over 650 new students to study in Canada,” the ambassador pointed out. “The most popular study choices included English as a second language (ESL) courses, business, engineering and medical training,” he said. These are in addition to specialized professional programs.
Referring to his countries’ educational system, the ambassador said: “Canada’s high quality educational system and open society make it a world-class destination. Saudi students have discovered that Canada provides many excellent choices for advanced studies, and there is a study option suitable for every teacher.”
The Canadian Education Center Network (CECN) also plays an important role in marketing Canada as an education destination. It represents some 277 educational institutions across the country.
Canada has more than 85 universities, 200 community colleges and a large number of private and public educational institutions in addition to the CECN network.
A number of Saudi students who left the US after Sept. 11, 2001 are looking to Canada as a possibility for higher education, professional courses and training.
Those interested in the Canadian education seminars may call the educational adviser at 01-4882288.