RIYADH, 24 August 2004 — The Kingdom’s continued fight against terrorism has been commended in a special feature on the US channel Fox News.
While complimenting the Saudi government’s efforts in combating terrorism and religious extremism, the program highlighted the Saudization campaign in providing jobs to its unemployed youth. It pointed out that the Kingdom has realized that unemployment among the local youth is one of the primary causes of terrorism in the country.
It said the country has a population of 24 million people of whom six million are foreign workers. Around 30 percent of the men are unemployed and among the women the percentage is 40 to 50 percent. Most of the work is handled by foreign workers and the Saudization program is gradually implemented to phase out the foreign population in the Kingdom.
Quoting the chief of Riyadh Traffic Department, Mohammed Al-Muqbel, Fox News said there is a comprehensive security network enforced in the Riyadh region. “Hundreds of TV cameras have been installed to monitor movements in the city,” it said.
Muqbel said that his security officers are so dedicated that they would sacrifice their lives to fight terrorism.
The Fox crew which had visited the SABIC headquarters in the capital described the complex as a palatial building. Quoting its Vice President and Chief Executive Officer Mohammed Al-Mady it said that the organization is on the road to employ as many Saudis as possible since it wants the Saudi youth to come into the mainstream.
