RIYADH – More than 420 passengers were left stranded for nearly 27 hours at the King Khalid International Airport (KKIA) and later in a city hotel after their Air-India flight bound for Bombay was canceled on Wednesday evening. The ordeal of the angry passengers ended 5.30 p.m. yesterday, when an A-I flight carrying these passengers took off from KKIA for Bombay.
RIYADH – Foreign Minister Prince Saud Al-Faisal will visit Tehran today to discuss a host of regional and international issues including Iran’s nuclear program, issues related to Iraq and the Middle East peace process, the Saudi Foreign Ministry said here yesterday.
RIYADH, 11 June 2006 — New Zealand has deported a pilot it believes was directly associated with one of the Sept. 11 hijackers in the United States. Rayed Mohammed Abdullah Ali was deported to Saudi Arabia on May 30, because he posed a security threat to that country and the people, New Zealand Immigration Minister David Cunliffe said yesterday.
RIYADH, 6 June 2006 — Saudi Arabia is among a group of seven countries experiencing a depletion of water resources because of climate change, which is also threatening its vast arid lands and deserts. “The deserts, however, can be used as a key resource if urgent action is taken to protect them on regional and global levels,” said a report released by the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP).
RIYADH – Yemen has renewed diplomatic efforts to join the six-nation Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) something, which is to be at the top of the agenda when Yemeni officials meet Crown Prince Sultan, deputy premier and minister of defense and aviation, during his visit to Sanaa next week. Prince Sultan is scheduled to visit Yemen on May 31.
RIYADH- Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah held talks yesterday with the Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov on a range of bilateral, regional, and international issues. The talks, attended by Foreign Minister Prince Saud Al-Faisal, focused on regional issues such as the Iranian nuclear standoff, the situation in Iraq and the Middle East peace process.
RIYADH The leaders of Saudi Arabia and Indonesia agreed yesterday to set up a multinational forum to help solve the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. “This forum can be integrated with the Middle East Quartet to work together to restore comprehensive peace and security in the region; said the visiting Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono. He was referring to the group of four that make up the Mideast Quartet the United Nations, the United States, Russia and the European Union.
RIYADH, 14 April 2006 — A prominent scientist called on the Saudi and Gulf governments to invest in scientific research and advanced studies to reduce the gap between the Arab world and the developed countries for the sake of long-term sustainable prosperity of the region.
RIYADH – Amir Alam, whose left hand was amputated following an industrial accident a few weeks ago, has been deserted by his employer. Alam, who is now seeking help from his community, was working on a machine when his left hand was suddenly caught in a pulley belt and badly crushed, leading to amputation at the Kharj-based King Khaled Hospital, some 60 kilometers from Riyadh.
RIYADH- German carrier Lufthansa and the Swiss International Air Lines announced yesterday the merger of their Saudi operations. The move follows the process of Lufthansa’s laking over the Swiss airline and its eventual integration into the Lufthansa Group, which was first announced early last year. “Our integration processes are working very successfully,” said Joachim Steinbach, Lufthansa’s regional vice president, during a press conference yesterday. “We will emerge stronger from the consolidation process in the Kingdom.