Manama: A Saudi minister has requested people who wish to express sympathy over the death of his son to donate money to the needy instead of publishing condolences in the newspapers.
Saud, the seven-year-old son of Tawfiq Al Rabe’ei, the minister of commerce and industry, drowned in a swimming pool on Monday afternoon, local news site Sabq reported.
News of the tragedy was posted by the ministry on its Twitter account.
However, the ministry, a couple of hours later, said that the minister thanked all those who expressed sympathy on the death of his son and requested that the money they would use in the newspapers to offer public condolences should be donated.
The son was to be buried on Tuesday afternoon in the Saudi capital Riyadh.
Al Rabe’ei who obtained his PhD in the US was appointed minister of commerce and industry in December 2011 in a limited cabinet reshuffle. He was the ministry’s undersecretary prior to the appointment.
The minister who introduces himself on his Twitter account as “interested in innovation and change management” has more than 102,000 followers.
On August 21, he highlighted in a tweet the threats to Saudi children from firecrackers and the need for common action to enforce the ministry’s ban on them.
