At a GCC summit here, Crown Prince Abdullah, Deputy Premier of Saudi Arabia, harshly criticized Gulf Arab governments yesterday, saying they had done little to achieve their long-sought aim of economic and military unity. "We... have not been able to achieve the objectives we sought when we set up the Gulf Cooperation Council 20 years ago," Abdullah said. "We have not yet created a united military force that deters enemies and supports friends. We have neither achieved a common market, nor formulated a unified position on political crises... The painful events that have affected the Arab and Muslim society the world over demand that we assume our historical responsibility and that we examine ourselves before accusing others." He condemned the apathy of Arab states when faced with crises and their habit of shifting blame to others.
Prince Abdullah said: "We admit that all of us without exception have allowed ourselves to be affected by suspicion and misunderstanding instead of objectivity and frankness. While we sought the help of strangers, we forgot our kin and when we opened our countries and markets to foreign goods we closed our doors to the products of Muslim and Arab states."
The Crown Prince pointed to the futility of decisions made at many summits where resolutions ceased to exist before the ink they were written in dried on them. He added that the traditional concept of sovereignty has been a stumbling block in the efforts for GCC integration.
Prince Abdullah decried the actions of terrorists who hide under the banner of Islam and called on all Muslims to condemn their acts. He called Islam the religion of tolerance and love and concluded with an appeal for moderation.
The Forum of the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques [King Fahd] for the Graduates of Saudi Universities from Africa met in Kano, Nigeria, and praised the efforts of King Fahd, Crown Prince Abdullah (Deputy Prime Minister) and Prince Sultan (Second Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Defense), advising Muslim nations and governments to study the educational progress in Saudi Arabia. Its participants commended Saudi Arabia's moderate curriculum of Islamic education, calling on all schools and educational institutions in Africa and other parts of the world to adopt it. They lauded Saudi Arabia's efforts to propagate Islam in Africa and its distinguished role in caring for university graduates from Africa, but requested a larger number of scholarships for African students in Saudi universities. They also called for building Islamic institutes and university colleges in some African states, as well as for the expansion of centers teaching Arabic in Africa.
The participants regarded the fierce attack launched by Western media — and American media in particular — against the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia as a campaign to harm Islam, since Saudi Arabia is the heart of the Islamic world. It is the only country implementing Islamic Sharia law in all its affairs and contains the Two Holy Mosques, so harming it means harming Islam. They confirmed that this campaign is based on false allegations, flagrant lies and twisting of facts.
The Islamic University of Al-Madinah, which has produced more than 30,000 graduates, organizes the Forum of the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques for the Graduates of Saudi Universities from Africa. The previous session of the Forum was held at Umm Al-Qura University in Mecca. It was attended by scholars from Eritrea, Gambia, Kenya, Liberia, Mali, Mauritania, Nigeria, Saudi Arabia and Somalia.
Nigeria's Ambassador to Saudi Arabia, Magaji Mohammad, described Saudi-Nigerian relations as good and thanked the Saudi Government "for the care it provides to Africans in general and Nigerians in particular." Another participant said: "Saudi security and stability are due to the Kingdom's method of applying Sharia law and Prophet Mohammed's instructions."
