Saudi Arabia, Yemen to build border fence

Riyadh: Saudi Arabia and Yemen have signed 17 cooperation agreements within which Saudi Arabia will pay one billion Saudi riyals (Dh1 billion) to Yemen.

The two sides also agreed during the meeting of the Saudi-Yemeni Coordination Council to build a border fence. In a related development, Saudi Arabia underlined that the security of Yemen is an integral part of the kingdom's security.

“Yemen's security is an integral part of the kingdom's security. We suffered much from painful events in Sadah province. We congratulate you and the brotherly people of Yemen to putting an end to such incidents in a manner that preserves blood and property. We pray to Almighty Allah to perpetuate security, stability and prosperity in the two countries,'' said Crown Prince Sultan Bin Abdul Aziz, Deputy Premier, Minister of Defence and Aviation and Inspector General and head of the Saudi side to Saudi-Yemeni Coordination Council.

Prince Sultan made these remarks while addressing the 18th session of the Saudi-Yemeni Coordination Council in Riyadh on Tuesday evening in the presence of Yemeni Prime Minister Dr Ali Mohammad Megawar, who is the head of the Yemeni side to the meeting.

Prince Sultan said Saudi-Yemeni relations were based on strong foundations of unity of religion, neighbourliness and bonds of kinship. He expressed satisfaction over the progress and volume of cooperation between the two countries in various fields, including efforts exerted by the private sectors in the countries for further boosting economic cooperation.

Development march

He pointed out that the kingdom's efforts in supporting the development march in Yemen extended to the support of Yemen in all regional and international arenas.

Prince Sultan expressed satisfaction over the implementation of decisions taken in previous sessions, adding a number of agreements were now ready for signature.

Dr Megawar expressed his country's thanks and gratitude to Saudi Arabia for its efforts in rallying Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) and international support for Yemen during the donors' conference in November last year. He expressed appreciation to the Saudi government for backing Yemen's bid to join the GCC.

Meanwhile, the Saudi interior minister Prince Naif Bin Abdul Aziz said his government was encouraging Saudi businessmen and companies to recruit Yemenis.

“This is all we can do. We cannot grant more privileges as we are facing a problem of employing our nationals. Our brothers in Yemen know and understand this,'' Prince Naif said when asked about Saudi Arabia's plan to give priority to the recruitment of Yemenis.

In press statements following his meeting with his Yemeni counterpart, Dr Rashad Mohammad Al Olaimi in Riyadh on Tuesday, Prince Naif denied any border problems between the kingdom and Yemen.

When asked about groups of Yemenis who assemble from time to time at the Saudi-Yemeni border, Prince Naif said: “We have more than 1,000 kilometre-long borders with Yemen. There maybe tribal differences or something like that.''