Royal Order : Participants in Hostilities outside the Kingdom or Members of Radical Religious, Intellectual Groups Receive 3-20 years in Prison

Whoever participates or is involved in hostilities outside the Kingdom or joins radical religious and intellectual groups or currents, will be sentenced by no less than three years and not more than twenty years in prison. However, the punishment will be increased to no less than five years and no more than thirty years in prison for armed forces servicemen, a royal order stated here today.

Citing the purposes of Islamic Sharia to preserve the nation's religion, security, unity and cohesion, maintaining the State's entity, and blocking the pretexts targeting the enforcement of Islamic law and public order and interest, the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz Al Saud issued the royal order which will go into effect after 30 days of publishing it in the official Gazette.

Following is the text of the Royal Order:

"We, Abdullah bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, King of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia,

Emanating from the purposes of Islamic Sharia in maintaining the nation's religion, security, unity and cohesion, and staying away from sedition, fighting and struggle in accordance with the following verses of the holy Quran :"And hold fast, all of you together, to the Rope of Allah" and "And this is my straight path (sirati mustaqiman), Follow it, then, and follow not other ways that take you away from His path" and as the Prophet Mohammed, (peace be upon him), said :" Whoever distances a span from the group, is driven out of Islam", and based on the rules of Islamic Sharia to set the necessary guarantees to save the state's entity against whoever dares to tamper with the stable constitutional approach of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, or its public order on which its security was built and its people have become unanimous on by the guidance of Allah and on the basis of our duty towards curbing the pretexts conducing to incurring our legitimate approach and have it subjected by those who adopt strange thoughts which jump beyond the regularities of freedom through abstract adoption of ideas and interpretations to practices defecting public order, targeting security, stability, tranquility and public tranquility and damaging the status of the Kingdom at the Arab, Islamic and international levels as well as its relations with other countries, including offending the country and its figures and after having reviewed a number of pertinent articles of the Rule's Statute and based on the public interest of the nation, we have ordered the following:

First: Whoever commits any of the following acts will be sentenced to no less than three years and no more than twenty years in prison:

1- Participating in hostilities outside the Kingdom, in any way, as per the referred above prescription in the preamble of this order.

2- Belonging to a radical religious or intellectual currents or groups, and the like, or those classified as terrorist organizations internally, regionally or internationally, or supporting or adopting its ideology or approach in any way, or vowing sympathy with it by any means, or providing any financial or moral support for it, or instigating for any part of that or encouraging or promoting it by saying or writing in any way.

If the perpetrator of any of the above mentioned acts belongs to the military forces, he will receive imprisonment for no less than five years and no more than thirty years.

Second: What have been stated in provision (First) of this order will not contradict with any penalty prescribed in the kingdom's legislations or laws.?

Third: All rulings mentioned in laws controlling terrorist crimes and funding them will be applied on all acts mentioned in the first provision of this order, including the rulings regarding apprehension, arrest, inquiring, investigation, prosecution and trial.

Fourth: A committee is to be formed from representatives of the Ministry of Interior, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ministry of Islamic Affairs, Endowments, Call and Guidance, Ministry of Justice, Grievances Board and Bureau of Investigation and Prosecution to set up a list, periodically updated, of currents and groups mentioned in (paragraph 2) of provision (First).

Fifth: The Minister of Interior is to submit to us without delay the occurrence of arrests, apprehensions, investigation, and prosecution on the crimes mentioned in provision (First) of this order.

Sixth: The above provisions of this order will go into effect after thirty days of publishing it in the official Gazette".

Abdullah bin Abdulaziz Al Saud.

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Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques Orders to Award Financially A Saudi Diplomatic Employee

The Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz Al Saud has issued his order to disburse a financial reward and promote a Saudi diplomatic employee at one of the Kingdom's embassies abroad for refusing to accept a great financial bribe offered to him to bypass the regulation in granting Hajj visas.

 This honoring for the employee came as an appreciation from the King for the faithfulness and sincerity of the Saudi diplomat and his colleagues.

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Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques Sends Message to Bahraini King

?Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz Al Saud sent a message to King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa of Bahrain, inviting him to attend the opening ceremony of 29th National Festival for Heritage and Culture.

The message was delivered by Saudi Ambassador to Bahrain Dr. Abdullah bin Abdulmalik Al Al-Sheikh during a meeting with King Hamad today.

During the meeting, King Hamad thanked the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques for his generous invitation, praising the depth of relations binding the two countries.

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Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques To Patronize 8th Islamic Conference of Ministers of Culture in Madinah

???Under the patronage of the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, the 8th Islamic Conference of Ministers of Culture will be held in Madinah on January 21-24, 2014 AD, announced the Minister of Culture and Information Dr. Abdulaziz bin Mohieddin Khoja.

Dr. Khoja expressed in a press statement his thanks to the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques for patronizing this conference, harnessing all potentials for its success in a way that befits the status of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, and sensing the current situations surrounding the Islamic nation and their impact on the culture and ideology of its people.

He said that the Conference entitled "For the promotion of cultural rights in the Muslim world in the service of dialogue and peace "comes at the conclusion of events of selecting Madinah as the Capital of Islamic Culture for the year 2013, noting that the Conference will name the capital of Islamic culture for the year 2014.

Dr. Khoja pointed out that the conference will discuss among the main topics "The initiative of the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques for dialogue between followers of religions and cultures : achievements and future prospects" , and the results achieved after its adoption in the 7th Conference.

The Minister of Culture and Information stressed that in implementation of the directives of the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques and the Crown Prince, the Ministry of Culture and Information has harnessed all its potentials and its efforts for the success of this conference.

He expressed his appreciation for the efforts exerted by Prince Faisal bin Salman bin Abdulaziz, Governor of Madinah region and Chairman of Supreme Committee for the selection of Madinah as Capital of Islamic Culture for the year 2013 in the success of the events and activities throughout the year.?

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Crown Prince Receives Indian Finance Minister

?Crown Prince Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, Deputy Premier and Minister of Defense, received here today Indian Minister of Finance Palaniappan Chidambaram and the accompanying delegation.

The Minister conveyed the greetings of President Pranab Mukherjee of the Republic of India to the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz Al Saud and the Crown Prince. For his part, the Crown Prince sent his greetings to the Indian President.

During the meeting, they reviewed bilateral relations between the two countries and ways of enhancing them in all fields.

The audience was attended by the Minister of Commerce and Industry Dr. Tawfiq bin Fawzan Al-Rabiah; Saudi Ambassador to the Republic of India Saud Al-Sati; and Indian Ambassador to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia Hamid Ali Rao.?

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Pakistan's International Islamic University Awards Honorary Doctorate to the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques

????The International Islamic University of Pakistan awarded the Honorary Doctorate of Politics and International Relations to Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, in recognition of his pioneer role in achieving security and stability at regional and international levels.

Pakistani President Mamnoon Hussain, who is also the University's Supreme President, handed over the certificate today to Rector of Imam Mohammed bin Saud Islamic University Dr. Suleiman bin Abdullah Aba Al-Khail, during the University's graduation ceremony which was attended by a number of Pakistan's senior officials and Saudi Ambassador to Pakistan Abdulaziz bin Ibrahim Al-Ghadir.

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Crown Prince Receives Commander of U.S. Central Command

????Crown Prince Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, Deputy Premier and Minister of Defence, received here today the Commander of U.S. Central Command General Lloyd Austin and his accompanying delegation.

At the outset of the reception, the Crown Prince welcomed the Commander of U.S. Central Command in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, wishing him and the accompanying delegation a pleasant stay.

For his part, General Austin expressed his happiness to visit the Kingdom and meet the Crown Prince, commending the interest of the leaderships of the Kingdom and the United States of America in relations between the two countries.

During the meeting, they reviewed the prospects for cooperation between the two countries and the latest developments in the Middle East.

The audience was attended by Prince Salman bin Sultan bin Abdulaziz, Deputy Minister of Defense; Prince Mohammed bin Salman bin Abdulaziz, Chief of Crown Prince's Court and Special Advisor; Saudi Ambassador to the United States of America Adel bin Ahmed Al-Jubeir; Chief of General Staff General Hussein Al-Qabil; Deputy Chief of General Staff Lieutenant General Abdulrahman Al-Bunyan; and a number of officials.?

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