Crown Prince Salman Bin Abdul Aziz, Deputy Premier and Minister of Defense, holds a map of the road network of Madinah on Wednesday after giving approval to name the city's fourth ring road after him, in the presence of Madinah Emir Prince Faisal Bin Salman and other officials. — SPA Saudi Gazette report MADINAH — A meeting of the Supervisory Council of Research and Studies Center of Madinah, chaired by its President Crown Prince Salman Bin Abdul Aziz, Deputy Premier and Minister of Defense, approved Wednesday a project for comprehensive documentation of the history of the holy city. The project will be implemented under the supervision of King Abdulaziz Foundation for Research and Archives (Darah). According to the project, all the audiovisual historical sources, including manuscripts, photographs and documents within Madinah and outside will be tapped, the Saudi Press Agency reported. The meeting endorsed a memorandum of understanding for cooperation and partnership between the center and the Madinah mayoralty in this regard. The meeting also approved the new organizational structure of the center. Also on Wednesday, Crown Prince Salman visited an exhibition on the projects of Madinah region, organized by the Madinah Development Authority at the Emir's palace. He was briefed on the major projects in housing, education, transport, urban development and healthcare being implemented in the region. The Crown Prince watched a video presentation on the future vision for the development of the city and signed a road plan named after him. Prince Salman arrived in Madinah on Tuesday to launch the yearlong celebrations to mark Madinah as the Islamic Cultural Capital. After opening Maaraz Al-Eiman exhibition on the venue near Quba Mosque, he toured the exhibition pavilions and was briefed on its exhibits. He also watched a photo exhibition on the history of the Prophet's City. Addressing the grand ceremony to mark the celebrations, Prince Salman highlighted the great significance of Madinah through the ages. “This country is honored by Almighty Allah to be the seat of the Qibla (prayer direction) of Muslims. The Holy Qur'an was revealed in Arabic language to the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) in Makkah, which houses the Qibla, which is the Grand Mosque. We are now in the city of the Prophet (pbuh) where he migrated; it is the city of Al-Ansar (the Supporters of the Prophet) and Al-Muhajiroon (the Immigrants) from where the tolerant message of Islam spread throughout the world.” Prince Salman also spoke about the utmost care and concern given by the Saudi government to serve the two holy mosques and extend the best possible services to the Haj and Umrah pilgrims as well as to visitors of the holy mosques. “The state was founded on the religion of Islam. Its constitution, as stated in the Statute of the Governance, is the Holy Qur'an and the Prophet's Sunnah. The most important achievement of King Abdul Aziz and his sons who succeeded him is the security enjoyed by the people, pilgrims, visitors and foreign residents in this country,” he added. Prince Salman left Madinah later Wednesday. The Rabat-based Islamic Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (ISESCO), an affiliate of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), has chosen Madinah as the Islamic Culture Capital for the Arab region for 2013. Over 130 noted Islamic cultural personalities, including scholars from all around the world, were present along with Prince Faisal Bin Salman, Emir of Madinah region at the opening ceremony.
