A special plane carrying foreign diplomats will take off from the royal terminal of Riyadh’s King Khaled International Airport for Jeddah today to allow them to offer in person their condolences on the death of Crown Prince Naif, deputy premier and minister of interior.
All embassies have been notified of this arrangement by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and have been told to submit the names of the diplomats willing to travel to Jeddah, said Deputy Foreign Minister for Protocol Affairs Alauddin A. Alaskary in the capital yesterday.
He pointed out a book of condolences has already been opened in Jeddah by the Saudi government for visiting foreign dignitaries and officials. However, other Saudi government offices including the Ministry of Foreign Affairs will open the condolence registers today, said the deputy foreign minister. “The Ministry of Foreign Affairs will open condolence books in both Riyadh and Jeddah on Tuesday,” he said.
“Foreign diplomats can visit Foreign Ministry offices either in Jeddah or in Riyadh to register their messages from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Tuesday and Wednesday.”
He pointed out all Saudi diplomatic missions abroad have also been instructed to open condolence registers. The Riyadh governorate has announced Riyadh Gov. Prince Sattam will receive mourners including Saudi citizens and residents today and tomorrow at Qasr Al-Hukm in the capital. “The Riyadh governorate has made extensive arrangements to receive a large number of citizens and residents who are expected to visit Qasr Al-Hukm,” said a statement released by the governorate yesterday.
Alaskary said all the 110 Saudi missions outside the Kingdom opened books of condolence yesterday. He said the Saudi embassies and consulates abroad would observe a three-day mourning period and accept condolences from Monday to Wednesday.
The Saudi Embassy in Manama also opened a condolence book yesterday for those seeking to pay their respects. Several reports of mourners flocking to Saudi diplomatic missions abroad to mourn the death of the late crown prince were received by Arab News yesterday.
On behalf of the Indian government, Indian Law Minister Salman Khurshid attended the crown prince’s funeral. In a message sent to Minister of Foreign Affairs Prince Saud Al-Faisal, K. Shanmugam, Singaporean foreign minister, said: “Prince Naif dedicated his life in the service of the nation, and had worked tirelessly for ensuring security of the Kingdom.
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