ISLAMABAD, 20 January 2007 — President Gen. Pervez Musharraf conferred Hilal-e-Pakistan on Tabuk Governor Prince Fahd ibn Sultan at an impressive ceremony at the president’s house here yesterday.
The Tabuk governor was conferred one of the highest civil awards of Pakistan for his efforts to promote relations between Pakistan and Saudi Arabia.
Earlier, the Tabuk governor had a meeting with President Musharraf during which they discussed bilateral and regional issues.
President Musharraf said Pakistan and the Kingdom had identical views on regional and global issues and their bilateral relations were getting stronger with every passing day. “Increased Saudi investment in the country testifies to that,” he said.
He said Pakistan was proud of its historic, religious, cultural and brotherly relations with Saudi Arabia.
The president expressed his gratitude to the Tabuk governor for the massive and timely assistance provided by the Kingdom following the October 2005 earthquake that left more than 74,000 people dead. He said he was grateful to Custodian of Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah for the swift help.
Musharraf said the 300-bed hospital set up by the Kingdom at the quake-hit zone helped the affected people a lot.
Prince Fahd also held a meeting with Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz at the prime minister’s house later yesterday.
They expressed satisfaction over the excellent bilateral relations and growing cooperation in various sectors.
President Musharraf will leave Islamabad today for Saudi Arabia on the first leg of his five-nation Middle East tour that will also take him to Jordan, Syria, Egypt and the United Arab Emirates.
