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KARACHI – In implementation of the directives of King Abdullah, Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques, and under direct supervision of Prince Naif Bin Abdul Aziz, Second Deputy Premier and Minister of Interior, who is also Supervisor of Campaign of Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques for Relief of Pakistani people, the first cargo plane donated by the campaign arrived at Karachi International Airport on Thursday.
The plane laden with dates and milk was received by Saudi Ambassador to Pakistan Abdulaziz Bin Ibrahim Al-Ghadeer and a number officials.
The Saudi leadership, the ambassador said, has been keen on supporting the Pakistani people, and it continues sending various kinds of aid since the start of floods disaster in Pakistan. – SPA

RIYADH – A plan has been designed to tackle any potential risk from dangerous viruses during this year’s Haj, according to Dr. Abdullah Al-Rabeah, Minister of Health.
He said the Kingdom succeeded last year in tackling the H1N1 pandemic, Asharq Al-Awsat Arabic daily reported on Thursday.
He added that an international forum will be held in October, under the patronage of King Abdullah, Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques, to showcase the Saudi experience in crowd and health management.
A study on the management of crowds and human gatherings will also be presented to delegates.
He said the Kingdom was able to control the swine flu virus at all sites last year. He said the preventive health measures adopted by the Kingdom have drawn the world’s attention to the country. – Okaz/SG

ISLAMABAD – A Saudi medical team airplane landed here Tuesday to operate the field hospital which was built in accordance with the directives of King Abdullah, Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques, to provide assistance to the flood-hit people.
The team was received by Saudi Ambassador to Pakistan Abdulaziz Bin Ibrahim Al-Ghadir, Director General of Emergency and Field Medicine Committee in the Ministry of Health Tariq Al-Arnus and a number of military officials from Saudi Armed Forces’ Medical Service.
Both, Saudi Embassy in Islamabad and Consulate General in Karachi are working round-the-clock to serve the affected and provide them with aid and assistance in accordance with the directives of the Saudi government, the ambassador said. – SPA

The King of Humanity hot air balloon carrying King Abdullahs picture has arrived in Ukraine where it will be participating in a festival of Ukraine and European balloons. The King of Humanity balloon, which is sponsored by a private company, will then continue its way to Germany with the message of peaceful co-existence, cultural dialogue and tolerance between peoples. – SPA/SG

AL-AHSA – Al-Ahsa Prison has released 60 inmates of various nationalities over the past few days as part of the King’s Ramadan pardon. The prisoners were found eligible for a Ramadan release after their files were studied by the authorities.
Major Anwar Al-Abdulqader, Al-Ahsa’s Prison Director, said the pardon committees are continuing to study prisoners’ files, noting that there is no time frame for the release of those who are eligible.
He said all public right prisoners will benefit from the pardon except for smugglers and drug dealers, and those who committed crimes threatening the security of society.
Abdulqader said the pardon does not mean the remaining time of a sentence is canceled permanently. This time will be added to a new sentence if a pardoned prisoner commits another crime.
Earlier this month, 60 inmates were released in Al-Baha region and they all expressed their gratitude for the royal gesture and pledged to repent. More prisoners are to be released soon under the Ramadan pardon, officials said. – Okaz/SG

JEDDAH – As part of the training and capabilities development program, Saudi General Authority of Civil Aviation (GACA) and King Abdulaziz International Airport (KAIA), together with Fraport, the management service provider at KAIA in Jeddah, have implemented a number of training initiatives for the benefit of the airport and its employees. By the end of this year, more than 500 KAIA employees will have attended courses in Jeddah.

In addition more than 100 executives, managers and young trainees will, in the next 12 months, be deployed to other Fraport airports around the world for individual training.

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JEDDAH: The National Committee for Lawyers plans to organize a national meeting in Jeddah in October. The major topic of discussion would be the King Abdullah Project to develop legal facilities and the Court of Grievances.

It will also discuss how the reforms will affect the courts, the relation between the lawyers and the security departments, the impact on human rights and the future of commercial courts and importance of the spreading the culture of law abiding, said Majed Qarub, chairman of the committee at the Jeddah Chamber of Commerce and Industry.

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RIYADH: The Iraqi twin Zainab, one of the conjoined twins who was operated upon at the King Abdulaziz Medical City, left Riyadh for her native town Najaf after her recovery on Thursday.

Zainab was separated from her sister Ruqiya on July 16 in an operation carried out at the orders of Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah. Ruqiya died three weeks later. The surgery was undertaken by a team led by Health Minister Dr. Abdullah Al-Rabeeah.

Born on June 5 in Najaf, the twins, who were joined at the hips and the heads, were brought to Riyadh on June 25 under Saudi Arabias ongoing humanitarian policy of performing conjoined-twin separation surgeries at no cost to the parents. The twins underwent emergency separation surgery on July 16 after a series of clinical tests conducted by the paramedical team headed by Al-Rabeeah revealed that their condition was critical.

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RIYADH – Military personnel will receive pay raises this month of up to 30 percent of their basic salaries, Lt. Gen. Nasser Bin Abdul Aziz Al-Arfaj, Secretary General of Military Service Council, said Tuesday.
The plan approved Monday by the Cabinet is so structured that lower-ranking personnel will receive higher percentage of increases, said Lt. Gen Al-Arfaj, who explained that as the rank goes up, the percentage of the raise goes down.
Military staff in the rank of private, who currently receive SR2,160, will now get SR2,800. Increases, which will be provided this month, will given to all military staff including those serving in the Ministry of Defense, National Guard, Ministry of Interior, Presidency of the General Intelligence and Royal Guard, Lt. Gen. Al-Arfaj said.
Those at the rank of lieutenant general will be paid the same as those in the Excellent Grade in the civil service pay scale and those at the rank of general will receive the same pay as ministers. Those matters were resolved earlier and the Council of Military Service issued the decision that was approved by the Council of Ministers, he said.
The pay raises are not related to an anti-terrorism allowance given to military sectors involved in fighting terrorism and those embracing deviant thought, he added.
As per the King’s order, the pay raise proposal was discussed by the Council of Military Service, which reviewed the matter for eight months, and the minister of finance and chairman of the Council for Military Service were also directed to study this issue.
The wage increase would be the second for the army since 2008 when Saudi Arabia offered state employees a 15 percent wage hike spread out over a three-year period.
The rise in wages is likely to at least match the 5.1 percent inflation rate of 2009, said John Sfakianakis, chief economist at Banque Saudi Fransi.
“Wage increases in general have not matched the rises in inflation over the past few years and barely covered inflationary rates of the past five years,” he said.
Lt. Gen. Al-Arfaj has expressed his gratitude to King Abdullah, in his capacity as the Supreme Commander of the military, for his generous gesture. – Okaz/SG

RIYADH – Etihad Etisalat (Mobily) won a contract to execute an exploratory project for the Communications and Information Technology Commissions Comprehensive Service Fund.

Mobily was the only contender to have passed all evaluation criteria to win the contract.

The contract was signed in Riyadh on Sunday by CITC Governor and fund chief executive Dr. Abdulrahman Al-Jaafari, and Mobilys CEO Engineer Khalid Al Kaf.

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