King Abdullah, Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques, launched Sunday the second year of the Shoura Council's fifth session with his annual address in which he spoke on a range of domestic and international issues, from terrorism and conflict on the southern border, to education, the global financial crisis, and relations with the Arab and Islamic world and the global community. The King began by noting the principle on which the Shoura Council was founded, saying, “Islam is the religion of dialogue, moderation, and coexistence, and from dialogue comes the principle of the Shoura”. “We gather here beneath the dome of the Shoura Council to review with an open mind the most significant works of the government at home and abroad,” the King said, describing the government since he last addressed the Shoura as having had “positive results on the ground”. On oil, King Abdullah said the government would continue its course of “moderation and conservatism” following the global financial crisis to “limit damage and protect supplier and consumer equally”. “That policy,” the King said, “helped mitigate against damaging price fluctuations and served to increase the state's petrol income beyond budget estimations.” “Everyone knows that the global crisis affected all the world's economies and we joined in the efforts to confront it, among them the G20 economic summit in London,” the King said. “We praise Allah first that we were not significantly affected by it and also the solidity of our financial and economic organizations that enabled us to overcome it with minimum losses.” The King praised the work of security services in the fight against terrorism, work, which he said would continue in order to “foil terrorist plans and root out all of the deviant group and dry up the sources of terrorism”. He further praised armed forces personnel deployed in the south to confront infiltrators and highlighted efforts to accommodate displaced residents, including the construction of 10,000 housing units in Jizan. He also thanked Arab and Islamic nations, notably the GGC states, for their support on the issue. The recent GCC meeting in Kuwait, he said, had produced many positives in areas such as the Customs Union, the Joint Gulf Market, the Monetary Union, the electricity grid link, and the study on a rail network for GCC states. King Abdullah spoke on expansions at the Holy Mosque in Makkah, and the Al-Jamarat Bridge, as well as the Haramain Train, saying, “we will keep doing all we can to continue providing pilgrims and visitors with security and peace of mind”. On living standards and social services, the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques spoke of employment programs, and noted that orders have been given for equal conditions for male and female teachers. SR1.166 billion, the King added, had been allocated for persons on social security. “Education is the most important of the duties undertaken by this country since the time of its founding,” he said, and cited the launch of Kaust and the creation of other universities across the country, bringing the total number of universities in the Kingdom to 25. “These universities have been provided with all available resources and facilities and limitless support,” he said, adding that some 70,000 students had been sent on scholarships abroad. The development of the justice system, for which SR7 billion has been allocated, was another noteworthy point in the King's address, and he highlighted laws governing the work of appeals bodies and the setting up of judicial councils. He also made special mention of the advancement of Saudi women. “Saudi women have played an effective role in all development programs whether as students, employees, teachers or businesswomen,” he said. “Princess Noura Bint Abdulrahman University is through its administrative and academic staff an example of the advancement Saudi women have achieved in knowledge and culture.”King Abdullah spoke at length on the continued advancement of the country and its economy despite the economic crises that have hit the world, and highlighted investments in Jubail and Yanbu industrial cities and the Kingdom's placing at the top of the World Bank's 2009 annual business environment report. King Abdullah continued by detailing allocations in the state's 2010 budget with its total spending of SR540 billion, 14 percent up on the previous year, noting the significant increased percentages going to education, health and social services, water, industry and agriculture, as well as transport and communications and municipality services. The King extended his address to the Kingdom's place in the Arab and Islamic world and the world at large, highlighting the connection with the former by “religion and language” as well as “interests, causes and common goals”. King Abdullah said the Kingdom showed great concern in supporting just causes, “particularly Arab and Muslim causes, primarily the Palestinian Cause”, which, he said, the Kingdom had worked for “along two parallel courses of action by pursuing with international bodies an independent Palestinian state with Jerusalem as its capital, and continuing its material and moral support to the Palestinian people”. “The Kingdom gave one billion dollars for the reconstruction of the Gaza Strip after the Israeli attack,” he said. “We are a part of this world and a member of the international family, linked with all moderate nations by joint economic interests and relations of cooperation in all fields, joined in the pursuit of peace and security and the fight against terrorism and corruption in all its forms,” he said. “The government of the Kingdom forever seeks to maintain and strengthen its relations with all moderate states in order to achieve common strategic aims and strengthen the values of cooperation across the board.” “We praise Allah that the stances of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia are characterized by moderations and rationality and wisdom, which has averted many regional and international conflicts, as the Kingdom has always stood on the side of truth and justice to bring peace and security,” he said. King Abdullah noted the country's response in international aid work and in helping deal with the effects of the global financial crisis, as well as its reelection to membership of the United Nations Human Rights Council. “For all these reasons the Kingdom enjoys high status in all international assemblies,” he said. The Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques concluded by praising the Shoura Council ahead of another year of the body's work. “You have through constructive initiatives, sound views and successful recommendations been an important partner in the development process which this blessed country is going through,” he said. “I would like to praise your efforts, and remind you of the importance of your decision-making role based on exhaustive study, specialist knowledge and practical experience, and God willing you will retain the faith and appreciation of the leadership of the government and the people.”
