The Kingdom will begin registration for Internet domain names using the Arabic suffix “Assaudia” from May 31 after technical and organizational requirements are completed, announced the Communication and Information Technology Commission (CITC) here Saturday. The Kingdom was the first to announce the actual operation of the Arabic domain names. Domain names in Arabic for Saudi Arabia, Egypt and the United Arab Emirates were added to the Internet's master directories Wednesday, following final approval last month by the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers, or ICANN. It is the first major change to the Internet domain name system since its creation in the 1980s. More information on Saudi domain names can be obtained at the Saudi Network Information Center's website nic.net.sa. Egypt will keep its “.eg” suffix in Latin and will offer “.masr” in Arabic alongside that. Masr is the country's name in Arabic. Meanwhile, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates will offer their countries' names in Arabic.
