ID :
14484
Thu, 07/31/2008 - 19:39
Auther :
Shortlink :
http://m.oananews.org//node/14484
The shortlink copeid
British ambassador to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia makes press
London, July 31, SPA -- British Ambassador to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia William Batey has lauded the development of cooperation relations between the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and Britain in various fields, stressing that Saudi Arabia plays a key role in the regionand in addressing the region's issues.
In a meeting with reporters at the headquarters of the British Foreign Office last night, he explained that the bilateral cooperation between the two countries receives great interest of the two countries' governments and covers all fields, especially combating terrorism, stabilizing the global oil market and developing educational and cultural cooperation as well as issues of concern tothe region, including the Palestinian issue, Iraq, Lebanon and Iran.
He praised the recent convening of the World Conference on Dialogue at the invitation of the Custodian of the Two Holy MosquesKing Abdullah bin Abdulaziz Al Saud in the Spanish capital, Madrid.
The British ambassador confirmed that such a conference enriches dialogue among followers of religions and promotes world faith inter-relations, noting that "Islam has nothing to do with terrorism" and "we distinguish between Islam and Islamic groups which adoptviolence".
He added that such a dialogue is not about our affiliations of religions, but on what brings us together, the values and tolerance we are sharing and our endeavor to remove the misunderstanding among the followers of all religions, hoping that further initiatives ondialogue will come to reality in the future.
He praised the Saudi-British cooperation in the field of combating terrorism. "There is a very excellent cooperation between the two countries, in the field of information exchange and experts' visits as well as training or technical tests", he said citing DNAtests.
He added that the Government of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia had succeeded in their quest to stop home financing of those groups, rejecting allegations that terror groups in some foreign countriesare being financed from inside the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.
On cultural and educational relations between the two countries, the British ambassador to Saudi Arabia stated there are more than 8,000Saudi students receiving university education in Britain.
"We welcome the presence of Saudi students in Britain and seek to facilitate the issuance of visas and residence permits for them", he said, adding that the British Embassy in Riyadh is exertingconsiderable efforts to facilitate these procedures.
He explained that the cooperation between the two countries in the field of energy was evident by the participation of British Prime Minister Gordon Brown in Jeddah Energy Conference held in the Saudi port city of Jeddah at an initiative of the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques, witnessing close viewpoints between the two countries on howto achieve stability of oil market.
He stressed that Britain welcomes all investments from Saudi Arabia and other oil-producing countries in the fields of energy and alternative energy in Britain called for by the then British PrimeMinister.
The British ambassador said that Saudi Arabia is a key state in the region and is playing very important roles to tackle the region's issues, pointing to the Arab peace initiative, which is basically a Saudi initiative, to resolve the Arab-Israeli conflict in addition to the Saudi role in solving the problems of Lebanon and to reach an internal agreement between Fatah and Hamas, as well as its role in bringing about stability to Iraq and preventing interference in itsinternal affairs and Saudi Arabia's stance on Iran's nuclear file.
In a meeting with reporters at the headquarters of the British Foreign Office last night, he explained that the bilateral cooperation between the two countries receives great interest of the two countries' governments and covers all fields, especially combating terrorism, stabilizing the global oil market and developing educational and cultural cooperation as well as issues of concern tothe region, including the Palestinian issue, Iraq, Lebanon and Iran.
He praised the recent convening of the World Conference on Dialogue at the invitation of the Custodian of the Two Holy MosquesKing Abdullah bin Abdulaziz Al Saud in the Spanish capital, Madrid.
The British ambassador confirmed that such a conference enriches dialogue among followers of religions and promotes world faith inter-relations, noting that "Islam has nothing to do with terrorism" and "we distinguish between Islam and Islamic groups which adoptviolence".
He added that such a dialogue is not about our affiliations of religions, but on what brings us together, the values and tolerance we are sharing and our endeavor to remove the misunderstanding among the followers of all religions, hoping that further initiatives ondialogue will come to reality in the future.
He praised the Saudi-British cooperation in the field of combating terrorism. "There is a very excellent cooperation between the two countries, in the field of information exchange and experts' visits as well as training or technical tests", he said citing DNAtests.
He added that the Government of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia had succeeded in their quest to stop home financing of those groups, rejecting allegations that terror groups in some foreign countriesare being financed from inside the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.
On cultural and educational relations between the two countries, the British ambassador to Saudi Arabia stated there are more than 8,000Saudi students receiving university education in Britain.
"We welcome the presence of Saudi students in Britain and seek to facilitate the issuance of visas and residence permits for them", he said, adding that the British Embassy in Riyadh is exertingconsiderable efforts to facilitate these procedures.
He explained that the cooperation between the two countries in the field of energy was evident by the participation of British Prime Minister Gordon Brown in Jeddah Energy Conference held in the Saudi port city of Jeddah at an initiative of the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques, witnessing close viewpoints between the two countries on howto achieve stability of oil market.
He stressed that Britain welcomes all investments from Saudi Arabia and other oil-producing countries in the fields of energy and alternative energy in Britain called for by the then British PrimeMinister.
The British ambassador said that Saudi Arabia is a key state in the region and is playing very important roles to tackle the region's issues, pointing to the Arab peace initiative, which is basically a Saudi initiative, to resolve the Arab-Israeli conflict in addition to the Saudi role in solving the problems of Lebanon and to reach an internal agreement between Fatah and Hamas, as well as its role in bringing about stability to Iraq and preventing interference in itsinternal affairs and Saudi Arabia's stance on Iran's nuclear file.
