ISLAMABAD: Saudi Arabia’s Ambassador to Pakistan Ali Awadh Asseri said here yesterday that his country wants to see Pakistan become “a strong and stable country.” Asseri said a stable Pakistan was in the best interest of Saudi Arabia.

In an interview with Arab News, Asseri said that Chief of Intelligence of the Kingdom Prince Muqrin, who recently visited Pakistan, had brought a message for the Pakistani leadership that was “very loud and clear”: The Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah was keen to see Pakistan as a stable, strong and prosperous country.

The message further said that the “Kingdom and Pakistan enjoy more than mere inter-state diplomatic relations. The two countries are knotted in the strongest bonds of Islam, both play an important role within the framework of the Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC) and the strength of Pakistan is considered by King Abdullah as the strength of Saudi Arabia.”

He added: “Prince Muqrin visited Pakistan at a time when there’s tension between Pakistan and India after Mumbai terrorist attacks. It has remained our policy vis-à-vis Pakistan and India to see peace and security in South Asia, and we have made efforts to de-escalate tension between Islamabad and New Delhi.”

“Pakistan is already engaged in efforts to combat domestic terrorism and it needs stability, domestic peace and political harmony among all the political forces. Therefore, we feel, both Pakistan and India should resolve their problems or disputes through peaceful dialogue,” the ambassador said.

“We were happy when the two South Asian nations initiated the process of composite dialogue. This remains our message to Pakistan and India. “We want to see a stable, sovereign Pakistan that plays or continues to play a pioneering role in the Muslim world. And as a member of the international community, it’s essential that it has peace with its neighbors.”

The ambassador wowed that the King Abdullah would play a pivotal role to facilitate peace in South Asia. He said good relations between Pakistan and India were in the interest of regional countries, including the Kingdom.”We are in direct contact with political leaders of Pakistan but how they manage to run the country is their business,” the ambassador added. “We only emphasize the need for Pakistan’s domestic stability and strength.”

He also congratulated Arab News editor in chief for receiving the Sitar-e-Imtiaz (Star of Excellence) award from Pakistan’s Ambassador in Riyadh, Shahid Karimullah.

BERLIN: King of Saudi Arabia Shah Abdullah has offered political asylum to Taliban leader Mullah Mohammad Omar, a German weekly reported on Saturday. The offer was pushed by U.S. President George W. Bush and Afghanistan’s President Hamid Karzai, the magazine said in an advance report from its Monday edition, quoting government sources in Kabul. It did not give further details.

A Saudi foreign ministry official was not available for comment. Saudi Arabia hosted a meeting between pro-government Afghan officials and former Taliban officials in September for discussions on how to end the worsening conflict in Afghanistan.

An Afghan government official said on Wednesday Afghan government representatives and former members of the Taliban were expected to meet in Saudi Arabia soon for a second round of talks. The official said Karzai, King Abdullah and Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari had discussed the initiative on the sidelines of a U.N. conference in New York this month. Omar is suspected to be hiding in the mountainous areas along the Afghan-Pakistani border.

Karzai has said he will guarantee the safety of Omar if he wants to talk peace to end the hard-line Islamist group’s insurgency. Saudi Arabia has a history of providing sanctuary for exiled and controversial politicians, including Uganda’s Idi Amin, who died in exile there in 2003.

Saudi Arabia, Pakistan and the United Arab Emirates were the main supporters of the Taliban when they ruled from 1996 to 2001. The Taliban were overthrown by U.S.-led troops in 2001, weeks after 9/11 attacks on the United States.-SANA

ISLAMABAD: President Asif Ali Zardari will leave for Saudi Arabia Tuesday for holding wide ranging talks with Saudi leadership aimed at expanding trade and economic ties and seeking Saudi support in helping the country confront its financial challenges.

President Zardari’s visit to Saudi Arabia is taking place at a time when Pakistan is in the midst of a serious economic crisis. He will try to seek Saudi Arabia’a assistance for the deferred oil facility to help the country deal with the balance of payments crisis.

The President will visit the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia from November 4, his first since assuming his office on September 9. He earlier accompanied Prime Minster Syed Yousaf Raza Gilani in June early this year.

The Saudi King and President Zardari would also exchange views on bilateral, regional and international issues. President Zardari in his talks with the Saudi leadership will discuss ways to seek more investment from the Saudi entreprenuers in energy, infrastructure development, agriculture and industrial sectors.

A spokesman of the Foreign Office said the two leaders would also exchange views on challenges confronted by the Ummah, the inter-faith initiative taken by King Abdullah and his country’s efforts to curb terrorism and extremism.

President Zardari will seek Saudi Arabia’s assistance for recently formed ‘Friends of Pakistan group’ that includes its major donors; US, UK, China, France, UAE and Germany and is scheduled to meet in Abu Dhabi on November 17 to discuss matters related to its financial assistance.

The multi-faceted cooperation between the two countries are based in institutional linkages and strong trade and economic ties. A Saudi-Pak investment conference at Riyadh on Saturday sought setting up of a mutual investment fund and launch of an exclusive cargo airline to facilitate the business communities of the two countries to enhance trade. Saudi companies have also made significant investments in Pakistan in diverse fields, while over a million Pakistanis were serving in various capacities in Saudi Arabia.

Saudi Arabia is amongst the top 20 major export destinations for goods from Pakistan and the Pak-Saudi annual bilateral trade is around US 5.7 billion dollars.

Major items of exports form Pakistan to Saudi Arabia includes, raw cotton, cotton yarn, cotton cloth, readymade garments, knitwear (hosiery), made-ups, bed linen, towels, tents and canvas, art silk and synthetic textiles, leather garments, furniture, carpets and rugs, footwear, sports goods and surgical goods, Rice, Fish, fruits, vegetables, Spices, Biscuits, Jams, Juices etc.

On the other hand Pakistan’s major import is petroleum. The other items though minor in volume, includes petrochemicals, organic chemical products, plastic products, fertilizers, steel products, electrical equipment, raw skins, tanned leather, boilers and heavy equipment, copper products, aluminum products, chemicals, components, precious metals, steel castings, tractors, rubber products etc.

Both Islamabad and Riyadh enjoy close cooperation with frequent high level visits between the two countries. Successive Saudi leadership have visited Pakistan from time to time. King Saud visited Pakistan in 1954, King Faisal in 1966 and 1974 and King Khalid in 1976.

King Fahd visited Pakistan as Crown Prince in 1980 while King Abdullah was in Pakistan as Crown Prince in 1984, 1997, 1998 and 2003 and finally as King in 2006.

“Pakistan and Saudi Arabia enjoy a special relationship, rooted in common faith, mutual trust, understanding and an abiding interest in each other’s security, stability and well being of the people,” said a foreign office statement prior to the visit. The two countries have shared perceptions and convergence of views on major regional and international issues, the statement said. The President will also perform Umrah and Ziarat of Roza-e-Rasool.-APP

ISLAMABAD: The training of intending pilgrims selected for Hajj-2008 will be started across the country from October 14. The training Programmes will be conducted in collaboration with local administration at Tehsil and district level.

Several Programmes will also be telecast and air on television and radio to aware the intending pilgrims about the rituals of Hajj. Up to 165,000 intending pilgrims under both government and private schemes will be airlifted to Saudi Arabia for Hajj this year.

According to officials sources in the Ministry of Religious Affairs, 149,323 applications were received under the government scheme which were about 13,000 less in number as compared to last year. As many as 17,890 applicants who were rejected consecutively two years in the ballot, have been declared successful.

This year too, machine readable passport will be issued to the pilgrims. The first Hajj flight will operate on November 2 and 164,647 pilgrims will be airlifted to Saudi Arabia by PIA and Saudi Airlines during 31 days. About 30,000 pilgrims will directly be airlifted to Madina from Islamabad, Karachi and Lahore airport.-SANA

Written by: Walaa Hawari
RIYADH: Saudi society has been recently exposed to a number of marriages that involve elderly men as old as 60 marrying young girls as young as eight. The marriages shocked many people who objected to such marriages, saying that there is no equality in this type of marriage and that there should be a strong law against such marriages. The question that was raised was how have marriage officials approved such marriages in the first place.

Sheikh Abdul Mohsen Al-Belaihi, a member of the faculty at Imam Saud University, has described the practice of marrying young girls to elderly men “a crime against young girls.”

A Saudi girl, 16, was admitted to the hospital after trying to end her life when she was forced by her father to marry a 75-year-old man. The girl was a part of an exchange deal between two fathers involving their two daughters. The girl had appealed to officials to block the marriage and bring to an end her father’s attempts to marry her off without her consent.

Al-Belaihi agrees totally with the Ministry of Justice’s new regulations, which include imposing disciplinary punishment against marriage officials who marry girls without their consent. Al-Belaihi believes that there should a legal liability on the wali – the legal guardian.

“The definition of wali is misinterpreted,” said Al-Belaihi. “It does not mean the ‘controller’ or ‘dictator’, on the contrary, it means ‘the responsible person for the welfare and wellbeing of the woman.’” He explained that in the Saudi society many women and girls are not exposed to men, and due to their limited experience the wali is supposed to examine the most suitable spouse for them to ensure their rights are maintained.

In this regard, consultant to the Ministry of Justice and member of the Shoura Council, Sheikh Abdul Mohsen Al-Obaikan, stressed the fact that should the wali be conspiring to marry his daughter without her consent or approval he should be deprived of the guardianship over his daughter.

Al-Belaihi says that he finds it irresponsible for marriage officials to overlook the consent requirement.

“Traditions can hold back some marriage officials from seeking the girl’s consent, as it might be uncomfortable for the family to bring the girl in front of the official and the male relatives and expect her to approve or disapprove of her father’s decision … I personally have turned away cases where I found violations and misleading information.”

Although Al-Belaihi acknowledges that, in some cases, the official can be tricked when another woman family member poses as the bride. And since women don’t generally have photo IDs, it can be hard to confirm that the woman giving consent is indeed the bride-to-be.

“The signature is also not sufficient enough in many cases, as it is not a norm for young girls to have an official signature,” he said. Al-Belaihi called on the ministry to find an efficient mechanism to ensure that the bride’s identity is not faked.

Al-Belaihi also said that using the example of Prophet Muhammad’s (peace be upon him) wife Aisha is not acceptable, as it was a different era when it was the norm for girls to marry at such a young age then.
Courtesy: Arab News

JEDDAH: Pakistan and Organization of Islamic Conference (OIC) signed a trade agreement. Pakistani ambassador Shahid Karimullah and OIC secretary-general Prof Dr Ekmeleddin Ihsanoglu signed the deal.
Earlier, the rules and regulation of the agreement were finalized that facilitate Pakistan in bilateral trade with the member countries. The agreement would be implemented from January 2009. Read the full story

RIYADH: The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia has affirmed its support for the Declaration on Jammu and Kashmir issued by the Organization of Islamic Conference (OIC) Contact Group on the sidelines of the 11th session of the Organization. The Kingdom was invited as the first signatory in recognition of its efforts for formulating the new charter, which was signed by several other OIC members during meetings of the 35th session of OIC foreign ministers in the Ugandan capital, Kampala. Read the full story

SAUDI ARABIA: Imam-e- Kaba Al-Sheikh Saud al Sharim has said that Muslim rulers and Muslims could save from every kind of troubles and achieve successes if they give up vulgarity and follow Shariat-e- Mohammadi. In his Friday sermon, Sheikh Saud said it is must for the Muslims to stave off themselves from wine as it destroyed the man creative skill , adding that the Muslims had become leaders of the world when accepted Hazrat Mohammad (PBUH) order to give up wine. He said that the Muslim should regret from almighty Allah of their crimes and follow way of Islam, get knowledge of technology to face the challenges to foil the enemy. He prayed for sick and removing of problems of the Muslims in the whole world.

ISLAMABAD: Federal Minister for Petroleum and Natural Resources Khawaja Muhammad Asif has said that coalition government is taking concerted steps to attract investment in power generation, oil and gas sector. “We look forward for more investment and support by Saudi government in these sectors”. Federal minister expressed these views while talking to the Saudi Ambassador in Pakistan Mr. Ali S. Awadh Asseri, who called on him at his office here in Islamabad today. They discussed matters pertaining to energy cooperation towards energy development between the two countries.

The minister informed the envoy about the huge potential of coal deposits and the steps being taken by the government for the utilization of 185 billion tonnes coal deposits of the country and sought Saudi cooperation and investment so that huge coal deposits could be utilized for power generation and gasification. Talking to Saudi envoy, the minister said that coalition government would soon be able to put the country on track of economic development and resolve issues like power shortage, law and order situation and wheat shortage in the country.

Referring to close ties between the two brotherly Muslim countries, they agreed to further cement the already existing relations especially in the fields of power generation, oil and gas. The ambassador felicitated the minister for assuming his new responsibilities as Federal minister in the government.-SANA