King Abdullah, Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques, announced with deep sorrow and grief that Crown Prince Sultan Bin Abdulaziz, Deputy Premier and Minister of Defense and Aviation and Inspector General passed away at dawn on Saturday. An announcement from the Royal Court condoled the Saudi people, and “prayed to Almighty Allah to bestow his mercy and forgiveness upon the deceased Crown Prince, bless his soul, and grant him the best reward for his services for his religion and homeland”. Mundane life is transitory, and death the only reality. As the above-mentioned verse of the Holy Qur'an says every living being has to return to his Creator. But what he leaves behind are his deeds. Crown Prince Sultan served the Kingdom and its people in a number of important positions. At various times in his career of public service, he was Governor of Riyadh, Minister of Agriculture, Minister of Transport as well as Minister of Defense and Aviation and Inspector General. While many will call attention to the remarkable achievements that he made in these fields, his outstanding humanitarian work and charitable activities must also be noted. Prince Sultan was the recipient of many national and international awards and honors. In 2007 he received the Humanitarian Services Medal from the Sweden-based Global Council for Cooperation among Civilizations and Cultures in recognition of his great efforts in spreading Culture of Charity works, combating poverty and his contribution in promoting humanitarian works and services. The citation of the award noted Prince Sultan's great care and provision for the charity, relief, health, educational, cultural, environmental, social, and humanitarian services regardless of race, color or religion, In order to better carry out his humanitarian activities, Prince Sultan established the Prince Sultan Charitable Foundation. The Foundation, set up in 1995, has become one of the foremost charitable organizations in the world with a wide range of humanitarian and charitable activities. Its principal objectives are the provision of humanitarian, social and cultural services in Saudi Arabia and abroad. In 2002 the Crown Prince set up in Riyadh the Prince Sultan Humanitarian City, which is a 400-bed Rehabilitation Hospital and Medical Center providing care to both inpatients and outpatients. These are only two of the major humanitarian projects established by the Crown Prince and along with them must be mentioned educational projects, such as the Prince Sultan Center for Science and Technology in the Eastern Province city of Al-Khobar and the Prince Sultan Program for Arab and Islamic Studies at the University of California, Berkeley, As Minister of Defense and Aviation, Prince Sultan made many trips, especially during the time of Eid celebrations, to visit members of the armed forces who were defending the nation in remote parts of the Kingdom. He often used these occasions to launch humanitarian projects, such as specialist hospitals and housing projects in areas of the Kingdom where such projects were needed. Prince Sultan will long be remembered as the Prince of Hearts whose only goal was to serve his religion, nation and all humanity. __
