RIYADH, 13 September 2004 — Saudi Arabia and Kazakhstan will sign a cooperation agreement in November covering the judicial and security fields. The groundwork for the agreement was laid in March when Kazakhstan’s President Nursultan Nazarbayev visited Riyadh.
Addressing a press conference at the embassy, Kazakhstan’s Ambassador Askar Mussinov said the agreement would be signed during the visit of the Minister of Justice Onalsyn Zhumanekov to Riyadh in November, when he will meet with his Saudi counterpart Dr. Abdullah ibn Muhammad Al-Shaikh.
The ambassador had called the press conference to announce that elections to the Majlis of Kazakhstan’s Parliament will feature electronic voting for the first time. Twelve parties will be contesting the elections.
Referring to the draft judicial and security cooperation agreement, the ambassador said it not only covers cooperation in the fight against terrorism but also in combating drug smuggling and all other aspects of security concerns.
“Security is a broad term covering many areas — prevention of crime, terrorism and drug trafficking. There are economic aspects of security as well. All these areas will be addressed, because we fully share the security concerns of the Saudi government.”
As for judicial cooperation, the agreement calls for an exchange of information on the Kingdom’s judicial system and its modus operandi. He also said that a Kazakh parliamentary delegation will visit the Kingdom later this year to study the working of the Shoura Council.
In reply to a question that in the name of fighting terrorism even legitimate Islamic activities of charitable organizations are being curbed, the ambassador said the situation does not apply to Saudi Arabia.
“In fact, during the visit of our president, Crown Prince Abdullah donated $2 million for the construction of a mosque in the northern part of our country. We believe that all those coming to our country from Saudi Arabia are sincere Muslims. We do not doubt their motives.”
The ambassador welcomed Saudi Arabia’s growing interest in the Central Asian republics and said it was a healthy trend that serves the interest of countries in the region. He said it does not make sense that economic relations should be confined to certain countries. The Central Asian republics have a lot to offer in terms of their resources.
In this context, he referred to the Kingdom’s grant of $15 million for the construction of a new building for the senate in the new Kazakh capital of Astana.
The Saudi Fund for Development has also extended a $12 million credit for the development of road infrastructure.
