Architect of GCC unity

Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah was the architect of the GCC accord that ended the eight-month-old dispute between Qatar and three GCC countries — Saudi Arabia, the UAE and Bahrain. The Saudi leader used his wisdom to bring together GCC countries and end their differences to strengthen the unity of GCC.

As a result of the king’s commendable endeavor, Qatar returned to the GCC and Arab fold. Such a move was essential to bolster the six-member Gulf Cooperation Council and confront the various challenges facing the region. He invited GCC leaders to Riyadh for an emergency summit, which resulted in a landmark agreement.

The world has seen Gulf leaders including Qatari Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thani kissing King Abdullah considering his important role in ending the dispute and bringing the GCC back on track. King Abdullah’s diplomatic overtures, during the summit, reflect his humanitarian gesture toward the Arab and Islamic Ummah.

King Abdullah wanted to resolve inter-Arab disputes in order to deny chance for enemies to exploit such differences. During the past years, King Abdullah, being the champion of Arab unity, has initiated a number of reconciliation talks between different Arab countries and groups.

Muslims all over the world have applauded King Abdullah’s efforts to end inter-GCC and inter-Arab disputes inspired by the teachings of Islam. The success of Riyadh summit has become the talk of town in all Gulf countries and it will remain a major turning point in the history of GCC.

— By Abdu Alasmari

El-Sissi and Doha summit

The emergency GCC summit in Riyadh helped in ending a complicated inter-GCC dispute. It resulted in the return of Saudi, UAE and Bahrain ambassadors to Doha. The summit was followed by a statement of Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah urging Egypt to support the GCC reconciliation to strengthen Arab unity. Egypt quickly responded to the king’s call and the presidential office expressed its full confidence in the king’s wisdom and opinion. It also described King Abdullah’s statement as a major step toward bolstering Arab unity and solidarity.

Since Cairo has wholeheartedly welcomed the king’s call and the UAE has applauded the move, I am wondering whether an invitation would be extended to Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El-Sissi to attend the upcoming GCC summit in Doha as the guest of honor.

I believe that such an invitation would open a new chapter toward strengthening inter-Arab relations. Of course, it may not end all the conflicts or heal all the wounds but it would be a step in the right direction. Egypt is a strong pillar of the Arab world and is considered the house of Arabs.

— By Tariq Alhumayed

Combating terrorism

After the disappearance of the Soviet Union, new flash points have been created in different parts of the world to boost lucrative arms sales. Al-Qaeda terrorist organization, which was created first to fight the Soviets, has become a threat to world peace and stability. A number of new terrorist organizations have sprouted in the Arab world and most of them were given birth by Al-Qaeda. ISIS militants also graduated from Al-Qaeda schools.

Western powers led by the US have launched a military campaign to stop ISIS. But many countries like Japan, South Korea, Australia, Thailand and New Zealand, which had previously aligned with US in its war in Vietnam, have not shown any interest to combat terrorism. Do they think the ISIS would not have any impact on their countries?

China, Russia and Iran have opened another front against the West by extending full-scale support to Bashar Assad and his regime. They also back Tehran’s controversial nuclear weapon program.

The new Cold War between the US and Russia would not serve the interest of Arab countries and delay the move to liberate Syrians from Bashar regime.

— By Yousuf Al-Kuwailet

Retaining good employees

If employers want to keep their best workers with them they have to meet their requirements. Studies have proved the performance of effective and excellent workers will be 400 percent more than ordinary employees.

A study conducted by Harvard Business, covering 27 countries, pointed out that outstanding workers in a company would not exceed 40 percent of the total and most of them had similar qualities.

The study warns employers that one out of five from these excellent workers would always think of leaving the organization within six months. About 12 percent of them will not think of leaving while the remaining would think of it seriously and 22 percent of them will be leaving the company within six months. The reason, according to the study, is that they are not happy with their present condition.

Employers were thinking that they can keep good workers by giving them appreciation letters and certificates of merit or providing them with advanced training or better insurance coverage. But 66 percent of employees wanted salary hike to stay on in the company while 55 percent wanted allowances and promotions.

— By Mazan Abdul Razaq Balilah

Women in judiciary

An independent and fair judiciary is essential for the progress and stability of any country. The King Abdullah Judicial Development Project has been instrumental in upgrading the country’s judicial facilities and expediting the judicial process. However, there is a long way to go for the Kingdom’s judiciary to reach the expected levels.

There are several challenges related to women. First, the move allowing women to use their national IDs for references at courts and notaries needs to be activated in order to ensure the identity of women who wanted to raise their cases or complete their documents.

The Justice Ministry should appoint women for support jobs at courts and notaries in order to check the identity of women and tally their IDs in order to avoid forgery. It should also appoint women at courts for civil status cases. Women’s work at courts and notaries does not contradict with the teachings of Shariah. On the other hand, such jobs are essential for women in modern times.

— By Mohammed Al-Aufi

Victims of manholes

Before getting recovered from the shock of the death of a young Saudi engineer and his son falling in an open manhole on the Tahliya Street in Jeddah, another similar incident occurred. This time it was Abdullah Al-Zahrani, a student, who fell in a manhole near his school in Jeddah.

I don’t know how many people should die for our municipal and civil defense officials to get up from their slumber . If we Google the word sewage tank/ manhole, we can see reports of several victims in the past. Some people have surprisingly escaped death after falling in such sewage holes. Civil Defense officers and volunteers had tried hard to save the life of Al-Zahrani and in a video showing the process to rescue the child, we can here the sound “Yah Abdullah.” I don’t know whether it was the sound of his father or any other relative. But that call was painful and it moved even the mountains.

We have seen the Civil Defense and Municipality officials blaming each other for the death of the student and there was nobody to take the responsibility.

— By Sattam Al-Thaqeel