RIYADH: In a recent letter to Secretary-General of the General Commission for Tourism and Antiquities Prince Sultan bin Salman, Koichiro Matsuura, director general of United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, expressed hope that the Kingdom and UNESCO would continue their mutual cooperation in the preservation and development of the ancient Nabatean city of Madain Saleh (also known as Al-Hijr Archaeological Site).
“I am very much pleased to congratulate you for the UNESCO’s recognition of Madain Saleh as an approved World Heritage Site, particularly as it is the first Saudi Arabian location to be included in the list,” Matsuura said in his letter, referring to the list of more than 800 cultural and natural sites worldwide.
UNESCO’s World Heritage Committee announced its recognition of Madain Saleh at a convention in Quebec City in Canada early last month.
“The Madain Saleh is a historical landmark and a symbol of the realization by Saudi Arabia of the common ownership and need for its preservation of the heritage for generations to come,” Matsuura noted in his letter.
The recognition underscores the historical significance of the Arabian Peninsula as a breeding ground of various civilizations and a transit point for the caravans of the East and West before and after Islam, Ziyad Al-Drais, Kingdom’s permanent representative to UNESCO, said on the occasion.
“We want to keep our cultural diversity that was,” Al-Drais said.
In an interview with Arab News last year, Veronique Dauge, the head of the Arab States Unit at UNESCO, said she would like to see more natural sites nominated to the list.
