MAKKAH, 30 March 2008 — The first group of 1,554 officers, who were attending special training courses to guard vital oil and industrial installations, graduated yesterday.
Saudi Arabia has already announced its plan to deploy 35,000 well-trained officers to protect vital installations across the country, including oil refineries.
Prince Muhammad ibn Naif, assistant minister of interior for security affairs, awarded certificates to the graduates.He expressed his satisfaction over the high standard of training obtained by the graduates, who demonstrated some of the skills they learned during the course.
Maj. Gen. Saad Al-Majed, commander of the forces for institutions, thanked Prince Muhammad for attending the graduation ceremony. He commended the government’s keenness to protect public installations.
Al-Majed said nearly 35,000 security officers would be appointed to protect the country’s vital installations across the country, adding that courses for training these officers started a year ago.
“Some 8,200 officers attended the courses, out of whom 4,850 graduated,” Al-Majed said. He also spoke about special courses that have been conducted to train officers for protection of key national institutions.
The training of officers comes following terrorist attacks on some oil installations, including a refinery, in the eastern town of Abqaiq.
