The Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud today patronized the opening ceremony of the National Festival for Heritage and Culture (Janadriyah 31). Upon the arrival of the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques, Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmed Al-Jaber Al-Sabah, Emir of Kuwait, and King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa of the Kingdom of Bahrain at the site of the Janadriyah festival, they were received by Prince Faisal bin Bandar bin Abdualziz, Governor of Riyadh Region, Prince Miteb bin Abdullah bin Abdulaziz, Minister of National Guard and Chairman of the Higher Committee of the festival; Prince Khalid bin Ayyaf Al Miqren, Undersecretary of the ministry of the national guard for crowd guidance affairs, and Abdulmohsen Al-Tuwaijri, Deputy minister of the national guard and deputy Chairman of the Higher Committee of the festival. Then, the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques received Sheikh Saif bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Interior of the UAE; Sheikh Jassem bin Hamad Al Thani, personal representative of the Emir of Qatar; Asaad bin Tareq Al Saeed, personal representative of the Sultan of Sultanate of Oman; Dr. Hilmi Al-Namnam, Minister of Culture of Egypt; Dr. Ali Hasanov, Assistant President of Azerbaijan for political and social affairs; and a number of ministers and senior officials of sisterly and friendly countries, who are here as guests of the festival. The ceremony was commenced by verses from the holy Quran. Minister of National Guard Prince Meteb bin Abdullah bin Abdulaziz, who is also President of Supreme Committee of Janadriah Festival, delivered a speech in which he welcomed the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques and the guests of Janadriah Festival. He highlighted the importance of Janadriah Festival, saying that it reflects the sacrifices of our fathers and grandfathers who unified the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and built its glory. For his part, Egypt's Minister of Culture Dr. Hilmi Al-Nimnim delivered the speech of the guest of honor country in which he expressed his delight with the participation of the Arab Republic of Egypt as "the guest of honor" at the festival at the kind invitation of the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques, stressing that this reflects the depth of relations between the two countries. The Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques honored the Saudi figures of this year, namely Dr. Ahmed bin Mohammed Ali, Dr. Abdulrahman bin Saleh Al-Shubaily and Safia bint Saeed Binzagr, granting them King Abdulaziz Medal of first class. Following the end of the annual camel race, the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques, Kuwait's Emir and Bahrain's King handed over the prizes for the first five winners of the camel race. The first two winners also received Prize of Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan which was handed over by Sheikh Saif bin Zayed Al Nahyan, UAE Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Interior. Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, Kuwait's Emir Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah, Bahrain's King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa and guests of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia attended the dinner banquet held on this occasion. The opening ceremony of Janadriyah Festival was attended by a number of princes and senior officials.
