Ashraf Al-Hendi Okaz/Saudi Gazette JEDDAH — The era of the late Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah saw a great improvement and development on different levels. His utmost dedication to his country, the Muslim community and the entire world was praised and commended by many. As a wise person, King Abdullah enhanced the Kingdom's role in the regional and international arena politically, economically as well as commercially. Because of him, the Kingdom has a more important role in the global decision-making process and it has had a powerful voice in global dialogue. During his reign, the Kingdom became a member of the G20 and participated in G20 summits held in Washington, London, and Australia. In his era, the Kingdom continued to serve Islam and Muslims and support Islamic causes. Peace initiative When he was the Crown Prince, King Abdullah presented a fair and comprehensive initiative to resolve the Palestinian issues. The initiative, best known as the Prince Abdullah Bin Abdulaziz Project, was presented during the Arab Summit held in Beirut in 2002 and was welcomed by Arab and world leaders. In July 2006, he ordered that $250 million be given to the Palestinian people in aid and to be the first donation toward establishing an international and Arab fund to rebuilding Gaza. When Palestinian parties started disputing, King Abdullah was the first to call upon them to hold a meeting in Makkah to discuss the disagreements among themselves without interference from any country. The Palestinian parties welcomed the call and Mahmoud Abbas, president of the Palestinian National Authority, and Khalid Mishal, chairman of the Hamas Political Bureau, met in Makkah accompanied by members of the Fatah and Hamas movements. An agreement was declared at Al-Safa Palace near the Grand Mosque, thanks to King Abdullah. He also made a strong statement during the Arab, Economic, Development, and Social Summit (Solidarity Summit with Palestinian People in Gaza) held in Kuwait in January 2009. He declared that the differences and disputes among Arabs were resolved and working toward a new phase in the mutual Arab cooperation, a phase that should be based on the values of transparency, candor, and a keenness to overcome present and future challenges. “Allow me to declare on your behalf that we have passed the phase of disputes and welcomed an Arab brotherhood and unity for all Arabs without exception or reservation. We will face the future with cleared disputes and as one nation,” he said during the summit. Rebuilding of Gaza When Israel waged its ferocious war on the Gaza Strip, King Abdullah immediately called global leaders and held meetings with many of them in the region and around the world to discuss the blatant Israeli attacks on the Palestinian people. He ordered that all necessary medical and food supplies be provided urgently to the Gaza Strip through Egypt. Many Palestinians who were seriously injured were airlifted at the behest of the King to Egypt for treatment. Many of them were treated at Saudi hospitals. Moreover, he announced that the Kingdom had donated $1 billion to rebuild the Gaza Strip and underscored the importance of Palestinian unity at this critical juncture of history. “Out of our honesty, we say to the Palestinian people that their differences pose more danger than that of Israel to their cause. We remind them that Allah has made unity a prerequisite for victory and discord the main cause of defeat,” he said in his message to the Palestinian people. He directed authorities to launch a nationwide donation campaign for the Palestinians who were attacked by Israel. When some of the injured were at the hospitals, he visited them and even gave them money as a way of helping them. Support for Lebanon When Israel attacked Beirut and the south of Lebanon in July 2006, the Kingdom was the first to denounce the military operations and warn the international community about the precarious situation and the possibility that the entire region might be embroiled in a raging war. King Abdullah called upon the international community to rise and act to stop the Israeli hostility and protect the Lebanese people and Lebanon's infrastructure. He gave $2 billion to the Lebanese army. The Kingdom worked hard, taking advantage of its ties with the United States, the United Nations and other countries to end the attacks. Finally, an agreement was reached to halt all hostile attacks against Lebanon and its people. But the Kingdom did stop at this level. It, at the behest of King Abdullah, called upon its people to give donations to the Lebanese people and the King himself ordered that $1 billion be deposited in the Central Bank of Lebanon to support the Lebanese economy. He also transferred $50 million to the prime minister of Lebanon to use to dispense urgent relief and services to people there who were going through difficult times following the attacks. The King's help continued when he gave Lebanon $500 million to start an Arab and international fund to rebuild Lebanon. During the conference held in Paris in January of 2007, the Kingdom gave aid to Lebanon worth $1.1 billion to the Lebanese government to support its budget. Reconciliation talks In May 2007, the presidents of Sudan and Chad signed in Riyadh an agreement to develop and enhance mutual ties. King Abdullah was the one who supported reconciliation talks between the two countries and who called on them to come to Riyadh and meet. In 2007, a conference was held for the Somali national coalition in Jeddah under the patronage of King Abdullah. Somali President Abdullah Yousif Ahmad, Parliamentary President Adam Muhammad Noor and Prime Minister Ali Muhammad Gidi signed a reconciliation agreement. Once again, King Abdullah played a major role in this reconciliation and proved that he was the staunch advocate of peace and was keen to ensure that members of the Muslim nation were one and united and free of wars, conflicts, or disputes. The entire world respected King Abdullah's efforts and humanitarian initiatives to help patients and those in need and the victims of earthquakes and floods. The Kingdom's foreign policy has always been and remains to be supportive of Muslim and Arab causes, on top of them Palestine. The Kingdom reiterated its calls for global efforts to help Iraq regain its stability and security and status in the global arena. It has never intervened in the domestic affairs of Arab and Muslim countries and has always called for the conflicting parties in any country to foster dialogue, understanding, and reconciliation. The Kingdom has always denounced all forms of violence and racial discrimination and worked hard to fight terrorism and crimes as well as help developing countries rise and achieve stability and security. Qatar-Gulf thaw In November 2014, the Gulf Cooperation Council countries made a statement announcing the resolution of differences with Qatar and that it had turned over a new leaf in mutual ties. Saudi, Emirati, and Bahraini ambassadors returned to their offices in Doha eight months after they were recalled. A Gulf summit was held in Riyadh under the chairmanship of King Abdullah, during which an agreement was made with Qatar. Egypt and Qatar Egyptian-Qatari ties hit rock bottom after former Egyptian President Muhammad Morsi was removed and the differences continued even after President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi took over. After the Gulf countries resolved their differences with Qatar, King Abdullah called upon Egypt to work with Qatar to resolve the differences. He even urged the media and prominent political opinion writers to contribute in their own way to achieve reconciliation between both countries. Saudi, Emirati, Bahraini and Qatari leaders together with the Kuwaiti mediator wanted the Riyadh agreement to witness the end of all differences, including the one between Egypt and Qatar. “I call upon Egypt to work hard with us to achieve the sought-after goal and support Arab efforts as it has always done,” King Abdullah said. Gulf unity In December 2011, the King chaired the GCC countries' meeting in Riyadh and announced his historical initiative calling for a transition from a state of cooperation to a state of unity. The King's calls were made to unite GCC countries and strengthen their ties with one another. His strong vision made him come up with this initiative to tackle several risks and dangers facing GCC countries and their citizens. G20 summit The Kingdom participated, under the leadership of King Abdullah, in the G20 Summit held in London in 2009. The summit discussed ways to revive the global economy and support future investment. The King participated in the summit of 2008 held in Washington to find solutions to the financial crisis that had hit the world. He emphasized that the failure to monitor financial sectors had contributed to the wide spread of the financial crisis and called for enhancing the global role of the International Monetary Fund. He also said he would allocate $4 billion to support the Saudi economy between 2008-2013. The King reiterated the Kingdom's desire to ensure a stable oil market, urging oil-consuming countries not to target oil through negative policies. “The Kingdom realizes the pivotal role it plays in the global economy and the stability of the oil market. Our policy is based on balance. We take the interest of oil-producing countries into consideration. For this reason, we have made a lot of sacrifices to ensure that the global economy will grow in a way that protects the interests of all countries,” King Abdullah said. Interfaith dialogue Late King Abdullah has called several times for enhancing interfaith dialogue and respecting the culture and civilization of one another. In 2008, the Global Interfaith Dialogue, the first of its kind that was the result of the King's initiative, kicked off in Madrid, Spain. King Abdullah realized the problems human beings suffer ethically and on a family level and then focused on the importance of interfaith dialogue. At the meeting he said: “Throughout history, the focus on differences between followers of religions and advocates of cultures has led to fanaticism. Because of this, several destructive wars were waged and bloodshed was spilled needlessly. It is high time we learned from the cruel lessons of our past and agreed together on ethics and principles we all share. The differences among us will be settled on the Day of Judgment by the Lord. “Each and every misery the world witnesses is the result of the absence of justice upheld by all religions. Terrorists and criminals are the enemies of Allah, religions, and civilizations. They would not have emerged or appeared had it not been for the absence of the principle of tolerance. Interfaith dialogue will revive the old good values and instill them in the minds of people all over the world. “We must show the world that differences should not lead to conflicts and tell the world the catastrophes that took place in the human history had nothing to do with religion. They happened because of extremism.” King Abdullah announced an award called the “Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah Bin Abdul Aziz International Award for Translation” to enhance interfaith dialogue and cultural interaction among different nations. Energy market In June 2008, King Abdullah sponsored the opening ceremony of the Energy Meeting in Jeddah with the participation of 36 countries that consume and produce oil as well as seven global organizations and major oil companies around the world. In his speech, he announced an initiative called “Energy for the Poor”. He said: "The Kingdom realizes the importance of global cooperation in energy to help the poor who are going through hardships because of the increase in prices of all commodities. It gives me pleasure to announce the initiative of ‘Energy for the Poor' to help developing countries face the high expenses of energy. I call upon the World Bank to organize a meeting soon to discuss this initiative." He announced that the Kingdom would allocate $500 million in loans to finance projects that help developing countries obtain energy and finance their own development schemes. Fighting terrorism King Abdullah called for holding a global conference in Riyadh to combat terrorism. The conference was held in 2005 and over 50 countries participated in it. He called for setting up a global center to fight terrorism. He said: “I call for establishing a global center to fight terrorism run by specialized people. The center will help countries exchange vital information on terrorists and stop terrorist activities before they happen.”
