RIYADH: As part of a regional initiative to step up war on drugs, the six-nation Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), which includes Saudi Arabia, announced plans here yesterday to set up a major center to combat drug trafficking. This center will help to map out future strategies for checking the drug trade, prevent transactions of dirty money, and foil drug trafficking attempts in the Gulf region. “This regional center, called Gulf Center for Criminal Intelligence, is being set up with the help of the UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC),” said a statement released by the GCC General Secretariat. The center, it said, “would improve co-operation among the member states by exchange of information on drug trafficking.”
RIYADH: The body of an Indian woman has been stranded for the last 72 hours at King Khaled International Airport (KKIA) in Riyadh on account of a disruption in Air India (AI) flights due to a Riyadh-bound AI plane catching fire in Mumbai on Friday. The Indian carrier, on the other hand, has announced it is paying SR390 (5,000 Indian rupees) to the 229 passengers of the Riyadh-bound plane as a token of support and compensation.
RIYADH: Family members and detainees of the Somaishi Deportation Center here confirmed to Arab News on Monday that Mohammed Saquib, 45, passed away in the center’s clinic. Saquib, described by his inmates as mentally challenged and suffering from tuberculosis, was rushed to the deportation center’s clinic on Sunday night where he passed away. Arab News reported on Friday that Saquib and another inmate identified only as Siyaram, 60, were in an alarming state of physical and mental deterioration.
RIYADH, 25 August 2007 — Osama Al-Kurdi, a Shoura Council member, has been chosen as the deputy chairman of the Inter-Parliamentarians for Social Services (IPSS) following its meeting in Seoul. Al-Kurdi, who is a versatile scholar and social scientist, was selected by the IPSS general assembly, which seeks to set up a legal and institutional framework to promote social services around the globe.
The King Abdul Aziz City for Science and Technology (KACST) has warned against a hoax e-mail claiming that Mars will look as large as the moon to the naked eye on Aug. 27 and that it will be as if there are “two full moons in the sky.” “It is misleading news… There is no astronomical event to occur as claimed. Rather, a full lunar eclipse will take place on Aug. 28,” said Dr. Zaki Mustafa, head of KACST’s Astronomy Department.
RIYADH: Saudi Arabia formally established diplomatic ties with Kosovo following the signing of the protocol accord for diplomatic relations by Khalid A. Al-Nafisee, permanent representative of Saudi Arabia to the United Nations, and Avni Spahiu, Kosovo ambassador to the United States, at the UN office on Friday. A close ally, the Kingdom has also been one of the top donors to Kosovo, which broke away from Serbia and declared its independence in February 2008.
RIYADH: A number of terror suspects including three men whose names figured on the list of 85 suspects released by the Ministry of Interior will soon go on trial in Saudi courts. “These militants, including the three who surrendered themselves before Saudi police recently under pressure from family and friends, are behind bars for plotting attacks against the Kingdom from abroad,” Interior Ministry spokesman Maj. Gen. Mansour Al-Turki said on Wednesday. “Everybody will be tried in a fair manner,” said Al-Turki, referring to those who are currently in detention facing terrorism charges. Al-Turki declined to say how many of these suspects are currently in Saudi jails.
RIYADH: The case of the Canadian brothers, in which one of the young men has been sentenced to death, has taken a new turn after the victim’s family has allegedly demanded five million dollars as blood money (diyyah). The father of the brothers says the family can only afford SR500,000. “The case has also bounced back again to Jeddah General Court from the Supreme Judicial Council while family members are waiting in despondency to hear the court’s directives in the case,” said Ali Kohail, father of Mohammed Kohail and Sultan Kohail, the two brothers found guilty of a death that occurred in a schoolyard brawl, on Saturday.
RIYADH: The death sentence handed to eight Bangladeshi workers for killing an Egyptian has not been carried out. The Saudi Foreign Ministry has sent no information to the Bangladeshi Embassy. M. Haroonur Rashid, labor counselor at the embassy, said: “The embassy has sent a letter to the ministry seeking information about the workers currently in Malaz Prison after their convictions following a court battle.”
RIYADH: A major solar eclipse lasting for more than six minutes will take place on Wednesday. Zaki Mostafa, a Saudi astronomer said, “Such a spectacular celestial event, the longest total solar eclipse, will not be surpassed again until 2132. It will be invisible in Saudi Arabia but will be visible in China, Pakistan, India, Japan and the South Pacific Ocean.”