Day: April 6, 2023

President Bashar al-Assad received Thursday President of the Supreme Judicial Council in Iraq Judge Dr. Faeq Zaidan.

Both sides discussed the bilateral relations binding Syria and Iraq, and the challenges facing the two countries in various fields, especially in the security field with the aim of combating terrorism targeting both states.

Both parties also discussed joint judicial and legal cooperation, with President al-Assad affirming that the judiciary is the balance of any state and the basis of its justice and stability, therefore cooperation in this field will be reflected in the security and stability of the two countries.

Zaiden noted that what the Iraqi and Syrian people have faced over the past years requires the two countries to raise the level of cooperation to its highest in various fields, especially those that enhance the security and stability.

Zaidan stressed the need to exchange expertise to deepen the experience of the two countries in the judicial field.

Source: Syrian Arab News Agency

President of the Presidential Leadership Council of the Republic of Yemen Dr. Rashad Muhammad Al-Alimi received at his residence, while on a visit to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, Prince Khalid bin Salman bin Abdulaziz, Saudi Minister of Defence.

The minister conveyed the greetings of the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud and of His Royal Highness Prince Mohammed bin Salman bin Abdulaziz, the Crown Prince and the Prime Minister, to the president and members of the council, as well as their wishes of security and stability for the Republic of Yemen and its people.

Al-Alimi and members of the council extended, in turn, greetings to the leadership of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.

During the meeting, they reviewed the strong brotherly relations between the two countries and peoples, and reiterated the Kingdom’s continued support for Yemen.

They also discussed the latest developments in Yemen, and the efforts of the council to achieve security and stability in Yemen, and support all efforts to reach a comprehensive political solution to the Yemeni crisis and help Yemen and its people achieve peace and development.

The minister reaffirmed the Kingdom’s unremitting support for the Yemeni Presidential Leadership Council in all fields, to serve the Yemeni people achieve their aspirations.

Attending the meeting were Saudi Ambassador to Yemen Mohammed bin Saeed Al Jaber and a number of officials from both sides.

Source: Saudi Press Agency

Prince Faisal bin Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, Governor of Madinah region and Chairman of Al Madinah Region Development Authority (MDA), has inaugurated the electric bus services, one of the modern models of eco-friendly modes of public transportation, which provides services to visitors of the Prophet’s Mosque and residents of the region.

The inauguration was held in the presence of the Minister of Transport and Logistics Services, Chairperson of the Board of Directors of the Transport General Authority (TGA), Eng. Saleh bin Nasser Al-Jasser, and the CEO of Saudi Public Transport Company (SAPTCO), Eng. Khalid Abdullah Al-Hogail.

Madinah region’s new electric bus is one of the TGA’s projects being implemented in partnership with MDA and the region’s municipality. It is an extension of the experiments that the TGA is working on to apply to activate modern technologies of eco-friendly modes of transportation.

The electric bus is distinguished by its high operational efficiency, which enables it to travel a distance of 250 kilometers on a single charge via a dedicated track, linking Prince Mohammed bin Abdulaziz International Airport with the Prophet’s Mosque frequently, with a total length of 38 kilometers. The new electric bus service is scheduled to provide more than 16 trips daily over 18 hours.

The electric bus features an advanced air conditioning system, display screens showing the trip’s details, and dedicated seats to serve people with special needs.

The new electric is planned to join the (Madinah Buses) fleet, which is supervised by MDA, to enhance the service of the residents and visitors of Madinah by operating the public transport bus system through 4 main routes, as the service network will link the north of the city with its south, as well as the east and west of the town, passing by the Prophet’s Mosque.

The launch of the electric bus comes within the objectives of the National Strategy for Transport and Logistics, which aims to adopt modern methods and technologies in transport activities and services and work to reduce carbon emissions by 25%.

The Strategy also seeks to raise the share of using public transportation in the Kingdom to 15% by 2030 and contribute to raising the quality of life in the central cities through eco-friendly modes of transportation.

Source: Saudi Press Agency

Senior officials of the Ministries of Foreign Affairs of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and the Kingdom of Morocco held here tonight the third meeting of the Political Consultation and the Follow-up committees.

The Assistant Minister of State for African Countries Affairs, Ambassador Dr. Sami bin Abdullah Al-Saleh, headed the Saudi delegation, while the Moroccan side was headed by the Director General of Bilateral Relations at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, African Cooperation and Moroccans Abroad, Ambassador Fouad Yazough.

The meeting was also attended by the Saudi Ambassador to the Kingdom of Morocco, Abdullah bin Saad Al-Ghurairy, the Moroccan Ambassador to Saudi Arabia, Dr. Mustafa Al-Mansouri, and several officials and representatives of the two countries’ foreign ministries.

The two sides discussed ways to enhance historical and strategic bilateral relations in various fields and exchanged views on several regional and international issues of mutual interest.

Source: Saudi Press Agency

Egyptian President Abdelfattah El-Sisi met yesterday with his Cypriot counterpart, Nikos Christodoulides, who is currently visiting Cairo.

During the meeting, they discussed cooperation between the two countries in all fields, especially the energy sector, as well as a number of regional issues of common interest.

Source: Saudi Press Agency

The Syrian pianist Agob Kanouzi won the First Prize in 9th International Competition for soloist international music competition held in Russia under the theme “21st century artists-initiatives, achievements and prospects”.

The Russian Musical Society and the Sino-Russian Foundation for Cultural and Artistic Development have organized the competition.

It was supported by First Deputy Chairman of the State Duma Committee on Science and Higher Education, with the jury comprising a group of Russian academic musicians.

Agob Kanouzi is a piano teacher at the Damascus-based Higher Institute of Music and a Master’s degree student of music education at Damascus University.

Source: Syrian Arab News Agency

PrinceFaisalbinFarhanAl Saud, Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), who is on an official visit to Beijing, met today with Hossein Amirabdollahian, Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Islamic Republic of Iran.

During the meeting, the two ministers discussed relations and followed up the steps taken to implement the agreement reached by the two countries in Beijing.

The agreement includes reopeningtheir respective embassies within a period agreed upon. They also discussed ways to achieve security and prosperity for their countries and peoples.

The two officials also expressed their hope to increase the number of consultative meetings. They also explored prospects to promote the joint cooperation to serve common interests.

Hossein Amirabdollahian, Iranian Foreign Minister laid out details of Thursday’s agreement in a tweet, after his talks with Saudi counterpart PrinceFaisalbinFarhanAl Saud.

The minister wrote that Thursday marked the beginning of “official diplomatic relations … economic and commercial cooperation, the reopening of embassies and consulates general, and the emphasis on stability, stable security and development of the region.” Amirabdollahian said that the issues are “agreed upon and on the common agenda.”

The official Iranian news agency, IRNA, said that in addition to reopening embassies in the two capitals, diplomatic missions would start operating in two other major cities — Mashhad in Iran and Jeddah in Saudi Arabia. The report said both sides also agreed to study the prospects of resuming flights and official and private visits between the two nations, in addition to how to facilitate the visa process for their people.

Mao Ning, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson said the two foreign ministers signed a joint statement and expressed their determination to improve ties in line with their talks in Beijing last month.

Source: Oman News Agency

The Shura Council today hosted Eng. Said Hamoud Al Ma’awali, Minister of Transport, Communications and Information Technology, who outlined his ministry’s policies, plans and programmes in the field of transport and infrastructure.

In the ministry’s statement at the Shura Council’s 12th regular session of the 9th Term, the minister discussed the policies, plans and programmes within the context of the 10th Five Year Plan and measures to activate it in line with Oman Vision 2040, the Development Budget 2023 and strategic approaches to the communications and information technology sector.

In his speech, Al Ma’awali said that the ministry is supervising vital sectors including transport, communications and information technology that will have a prominent role in achieving the goals of “Oman Vision 2040”.

Emphasis is laid on the priorities of the current stage of the Vision, the establishment of an empowering infrastructure that is capable of keeping pace with developments and modifications, he explained.

The minister added that the ministry is embarked on drafting a number of regulatory and legislative frameworks for the governance of its activities, besides improving the satisfaction of those benefiting from its services.

He pointed out that the ministry gave directives to implement a number of strategic road projects during the current five-year plan. These projects, he said, include the addition of a third and fourth lanes to the Rusayl – Bidbid road (Part 1), whose accomplishment rate stood at 60% as at the end of 2022. The project assumes special significance and it is scheduled to be completed by the end of this year (2023), said Al Ma’awali.

The minister added that the Ministry is making progress in its plan to complete the remaining parts of Adam-Thumrait dual-carriageway—a 400-km stretch.

He said that the ministry monitored the implementation of projects that were suspended over the past few years due to contractors’ inability to complete the projects. The works were later floated, assigned and accomplished during the current five-year plan.

These include the final part of A’Sharqiyah Expressway and Al Abela- Al Fayyad) road, the remaining tasks of Al Batinah Expressway, a project to raise the efficiency of Sinaw-Mahout-Duqm road and another to complete the remaining part of Adam-Haima road, said the minister.

The Ministry is finalizing contractual procedures for another set of projects, which include the designing and implementation of Daba-Khassab road with Lima link, the designing and implementation of the remaining parts of the Al Batinah Coastal Road (Phase 1), Barka link and A’Suwaiq link, said the minister.

He added that the ministry awarded a project for designing the dual-carriageway between the Wilayat of Al Kamil W’al Wafi and the Wilayat of Ja’alan Bani Bu Ali.

The minister explained that the Ministry is currently preparing executive plans for new projects that were approved recently.

These include the dualization of the Farq- Hai Al Turath-Izki road, the dualizaton of Raysut – Al Mughsayl road and Seeh Al Khayrat – Shasr road, the completion of dualization of roads leading to the Empty Quarter or Rub Al Khali border crossing (Phase 1), in addition to floating consultancy studies for paving Shahab – Asaib – Rakhyout road, said the minister.

Al Ma’awali explained that the ministry took steps to finalize the awarding of periodic maintenance contracts for the implementation of networks of asphalt and dust roads in most governorates of Oman for a period of 5 years to the tune of more than RO 53 million.

The minister said that tasks of road restoration works, in the aftermath of the climatic condition (Shaheen cyclone), were 80 percent complete.

Meanwhile, the Ministry signed a memorandum of understanding with an international company to complete economic and financial studies for the construction of the Masirah Bridge and Dam, said the minister.

He added that discussions are underway to explore the extent to which the private sector is keen to invest in the construction of Thumrait -Salalah truck road and other projects.

Al Ma’awali pointed out that the ministry is currently focusing on investments in road networks in Oman, particularly those linking sea ports with airports, as well as the activation of the logistics sector.

The ministry is joining hands with offices of governors to re-distribute part of the road network (dust roads and asphalt roads) to enable the governors to exercise their role in running the governorates in a more effective manner, said the minister.

He stressed that the Ministry is preparing to issue a law on roads that grants administrative powers to the authorities supervising roads. This is in addition to updating the regulation on protecting roads that was issued under Ministerial Decision No. 155/2017, he said.

Al Ma’awali also affirmed that his ministry is embarked on introducing integrated solutions in the field of transport to ease road jams and ensure the smooth flow of traffic.

Source: Oman News Agency

The King Salman Humanitarian Aid and Relief Center (KSrelief) distributed on Monday 3 tons and 350 kilograms of food baskets in Delvinë Governorate, Republic of Albania, benefiting 300 people, as part of the food basket project 2023 in the Republic of Albania.

The aid comes within the framework of a project to distribute 2,000 food baskets in 34 Albanian governorates, in order to achieve food security, alleviate the suffering of the needy and provide their basic food requirements during the holy month of Ramadan.

Source: Saudi Press Agency

Bahrain strongly condemned the Israeli occupation police forces’ storming in Al-Aqsa Mosque, assaulting worshipers and arresting a number of them, as a provocation to the feelings of millions of Muslims around the world, and a violation of the rules of international law.

The Bahraini Ministry of Foreign Affairs stressed the need to respect the role of the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan in protecting holy places, calling for providing protection from any practices that cause instability. It also affirmed Bahrain’s rejection of all provocative actions which threaten further escalation and violence.

Source: Saudi Press Agency

Pakistani Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Hina Rabbani Khar met here yesterday with Saudi Ambassador to Pakistan Nawaf bin Saeed Al-Malki.

During the meeting, they held cordial talks and discussed issues of common interest between the two countries.

Source: Saudi Press Agency

The Muslim World League (MWL) condemned the Israeli occupation forces storming in the courtyards of the blessed Al-Aqsa Mosque and the blatant assault on peaceful worshipers.

The MWL denounced Israeli practices that violate the sanctity of Islamic sites and constitute a serious violation of international laws and norms.

The league emphasized the importance of collective action to achieve a just and comprehensive peace, and to stop all practices that undermine the chances of a solution in the occupied territories, reaffirming its firm support for all efforts aimed at resolving the Palestinian cause.

Source: Saudi Press Agency