RIYADH, 4 January 2005 — Saudi Arabia and Spain have vowed to work together to curb terrorism and to exchange information to ensure better coordination in fighting terror, said Prince Saud ibn Naif, Saudi ambassador to Spain. Prince Saud was speaking after talks with Prince Sultan ibn Salman, secretary-general of the Supreme Commission for Tourism (SCT), here on Sunday.
Prince Saud, who is also the permanent representative of the Kingdom to the Spain-based World Tourism Organization (WTO), visited SCT and Prince Salman Center for Disability Research (PSCDR) here on Sunday on the invitation of Prince Sultan. Prince Saud said: “I am really impressed by both the facilities — PSCDR and SCT. In fact, this new tourism body is laying the foundation for tourism industry in the Kingdom”.
Asked about terrorism that is bound to hurt tourism plans of the two countries, Prince Saud said there was total understanding and full cooperation between the two countries in fight against terrorism.
“Riyadh-Madrid cooperation has been excellent and the Saudi government provided all necessary assistance and information to Spain during the Madrid bombings,” he said.
“Spain has also provided information to the Kingdom whenever it is needed in the fight against terror,” remarked Prince Saud. He said both the countries realized the importance of cooperation in fighting this evil. Spain has always backed Saudi Arabia on the Middle East issue. The trade between Riyadh and Madrid has been in the vicinity of $1.8 billion annually. Referring to his talks with Prince Sultan, he said: “I would like to contribute to the PSCDR, which has emerged as the first research facility of its kind in the Arab world with an objective to improve the quality of life of handicapped children and adults.” A Ministry of Health survey has revealed recently that there are more than 700,000 people including children suffering from one or the other type of disabilities.
Out of those, nearly 18 percent are suffering from disabilities because of genetic factors, which is much higher than anywhere else in the world. The rest are disabled by accidents or physical deformations or other causes.
