Saeed Al-Khotani Saudi Gazette RIYADH — The Ministry of Health said it will sue the online Saudi newspaper Sabq for publishing a report accusing it of retaining a senior health official who had violated administrative regulations at his post when he should have been terminated from his job more than 12 years ago. “This necessitated taking such action to preserve the rights and protect the reputation of the ministry and its employees,” a ministry statement said referring to the report that appeared on the newspaper's website last Wednesday. The ministry decided to sue the electronic newspaper because it kept insisting on publishing the report that tarnished the image of the ministry despite clarifications made to it regarding this case, said an informed source. The ministry pointed out that the newspaper relied on a decade-old report by the Makkah governorate on allegations against Dr. Khalid Dhafar, Director General of Health Affairs in Makkah province, that he had committed violations on duty. The ministry added that these allegations were dismissed later by a thorough investigation ordered by the Emir of Makkah and carried out by a committee composed of members from the governorate, the administrative intelligence and the ministry. “The committee found out that the alleged violations did not deserve to be considered as such. They were just actions taken by a senior official on his personal responsibility in public interest and never meant to be violations for the law. On the contrary, some of his actions were commended by the investigating committee,” the ministry said. When this issue was raised again in 2007, an investigation carried out by the Commission of Control and Investigation, the government agency mandated to investigative violations of government regulations, released its conclusion in 2011 that said there were no serious violations on the part of that official. It said some of his actions constituted only minor infringements that deserved a mere warning.
