25 March 2009

BEIRUT: The health of Crown Prince Sultan, who is convalescing at a New York hospital, is satisfactory, Interior Minister Prince Naif said yesterday. "I would like to assure you that the crown prince's health is very good. God willing, after the medical vacation he will return to the Kingdom in full health," the Saudi Press Agency quoted him as telling to reporters.

Prince Naif was in the Lebanese capital to attend a meeting of Arab interior ministers. "Everything is in good shape. Crown Prince Sultan is enjoying complete health. God willing, he will return to the Kingdom very soon in order to carry out his duties better than before," he said.

Prince Naif emphasized Arab governments' efforts to root out deviant thoughts and ideas from their countries. "We are trying our best to convince our citizens that they are the first line of defense against those who try to undermine their countries' security."

The Saudi minister called upon Arab media organizations to play their role to educate Arab citizens about the danger posed by deviant ideologies in order to prevent them from joining terrorist groups.

"We in Saudi Arabia are more concerned with this issue and we don't allow our youth to follow such wrong ideologies."

Prince Naif expressed his happiness over the successful efforts of Saudi security forces in defeating terrorism. "Our security officers have been successful in uncovering all terrorist operations that have taken place in the Kingdom. They also foiled many terrorist operations."

On Sunday while addressing the interior ministers conference, Prince Naif denounced moves by certain interest groups to undermine the security and stability of Arab countries by creating suspicions about their governments as well as political, social and economic systems.

Prince Naif emphasized the importance of Arab unity. He praised the bold and sincere initiative made by Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah at the Arab economic summit in Kuwait to reconcile Arab leaders. "That initiative was part of continuous efforts of King Abdullah and Crown Prince Sultan to reinforce the foundation of Arab solidarity and strengthen the unity of the Arab nation to confront its challenges," the prince said.

Referring to the proposal of Lebanese Interior Minister Ziad Baroud to establish a terrorism observatory, Prince Naif said Saudi Arabia had proposed an international counterterrorism center five years ago. "Such a center is essential to fight terrorism," he added.