Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz Al Saud separetely received at Al-Safa palace in Makkah this evening Qatar's Prime Minister and Foreign Miniser Sheikh Hamad bin Jassem bin Jabr Al Thani and the accompanying delegation; Iraq's Vice President Tareq Al-Hashmi and the accompanying delegation; the Director General of the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) Dr. Jacquest Diouf and the accompanying delegation; and the Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Commerce and Industry Chamber in Makkah Talal Abdulwahab Merza and members of the board. During the audience with the FAO senior official, the monarch received AGRICOLA medal, the most prestigious prize offered by the organization to world senior dignitaries who were recognized for supporting agricultural development and production and proverty and starvation combat. In an address, Dr. Diouf expressed gratitude to the King for his support for agricultural development at the national and international levels. He lauded the Kingdom's contribution to the combat of border-crossing epidemics and plant and animal diseases in the Middle East and Africa, particularly desert locust. He expressed gratitude to the Kingdom for its donation extended to the organization of the world summit for food security held in November 2009 in Rome. Thanks to a finaicial grant by the Kingdom, the FAO was able to conclude a $1 billion deal with the Islamic Development Bank to finance agricultural development projects in poor countries from 2010 through 2012, he said, adding that the agricultural organization has bestowed its confidence on the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia to impement projects to be financed by the Credit Fund amounting to more than $65 million, including water desalination and power generation projects. The audiences were attended by Prince Abdul-Ilah bin Abdulaziz, Advisor to the King; Prince Faisal bin Mohammed bin Saud Al-Kabeer; Prince Miqren bin Abdulaziz, Chief of the General Intelligence, princes, ministers and senior officials. At sunset, the guests had Ramadan Iftar with the monarch.
