We are looking for sales & marketing representatives in different countries. Apply now!

Short Takes:
Saudi Crown Prince Abdullah Bin Abdul Aziz on Sunday evening made a telephone call to Algerian President Abdelaziz Bouteflika. Talks dealt with bilateral relations, Arab and international issues. Go

The Kuwaiti authorities on Monday freed university teacher and writer Ahmad al-Baghdadi, according to an Emiri pardon issued just 13 days since he entered the prison for a one-month prison sentence over "insulting Islam" in an article he published in 1996. Go

The Egyptian supreme ministerial committee for the major national projects held a meeting today under the chairmanship of Egyptian Prime Minister Atef Ebied, three reports following up on the national projects in the different governorates were discussed according to the instructions of President Hosni Mubarak of Egypt to the government, especially to implement these projects, whose important role is boosting the Egyptian economy and creating more work opportunities for the citizens, quickly. Go

The governor of Riyadh district, Prince Salman Bin Abdul Aziz met on Monday with the speaker of the Philippines Parliament, Manuel Vellar, and members of the accompanying delegation. Present at the meeting was the speaker of the Saudi Shoura council Muhammad Ibrahim Bin Jubeir. The two sides reviewed bilateral relations and issues of mutual concern. Go

Egyptian Minister of Communication and Data Ahmed Nazeef refused an Israeli call for a rapid start to joint cooperation between Egypt and Israel in the communications field. Nazeef received Israeli Minister of Communication Binyamin Ben-Eliezer yesterday. Ben-Eliezer asked for a rapid start to cooperation agreements between the two ministries, as the Egyptian minister only promised to reconsider the possibility of the required cooperation. Go

French Premier, Lionel Jospin, will pay a two-day visit to Morocco next November. Jospin will co-chair with Moroccan peer, Abderrahmane Youssoufi, the third session of the annual meeting of French-Moroccan heads of governments. Go

Sheikh Jamil El-Hujeilan, the secretary general of the Gulf Cooperation Council, discussed yesterday with Peter Holen, Switzerland's ambassador in Riyadh, procedures of signing among GCC countries and the EEuropean Free Trade Association (EFTA), on declaring principles for joint cooperation among the GCC member states and countries of EFTA which lead the two sides for an agreement that enhances the economic relations between them. The European trade association includes in its membership besides Switzerland, Norway, Iceland and Liechtenstein. Go

Kuwaiti Emir Sheikh Jaber al-Ahmad al-Sabah on Monday received in Kuwait a message from Senegalese President Abdou Diouf. The message was handed over by Senegal's minister of defence Sheikh Hamdou during his meeting with Sheikh Jaber on Monday. Earlier in the day, Kuwaiti Defense Minister Sheikh Salem al-Sabah received Senegal's defense minister, currently visiting Kuwait. Go

The French government has offered Sudan humanitarian aid estimated at a cost of US $4.5 million. In a statement on Monday, the French embassy in Khartoum said that the sum offered was put at the disposal of the World Food Program to purchase thousands of tonnes of foodstuffs from the local markets and distribute them among needy people in the Sudanese areas that were exposed to floods in September. Go

Carol Bellamy, the executive manger of the UNICEF organization, left Baghdad yesterday after a one-week visit to Iraq, during which she visited schools and hospitals to learn about the humanitarian situation of the Iraqi children in shadow of the sanctions imposed on their country. Bellamy visited also northern Iraq and met with the heads of the two Kurdish parties that have been sharing power in Kurdistan since 1991 and with whom she discussed means of improving children's care in the area. Go

The Jordanian Interior Ministry issued strict instructions yesterday to all the Jordanian official fronts concerning disapproval of selling land or houses inside Israel, the occupied areas, or the Palestinian Authority areas. Go

The chairman of the Israeli Likud Party, Ariel Sharon, met on Monday in Tel Aviv with Jordan's Prince Hassan, who attended a meeting at Tel Aviv University on the anniversary of signing the Wadi Araba treaty. Israel Radio said that Prince Hassan also met during this visit with Israeli President Ezer Weizman and Prime Minister Ehud Barak. Go

The US ambassador to Lebanon, David Satterfield said on Monday that he expressed to the Lebanese Prime Minister Salim al-Hoss, with whom he met on Monday, that the US hopes to resume negotiations on the Syrian and Lebanese tracks. Go

An Egyptian Boeing 737 leaving Turkey for Cairo at 5 p.m. was hijacked and a hijacker five minutes after the take off demanded that the plane land in London. Five minutes after takeoff, he threatened the pilot, demanding that the flight be rerouted. Meantime, foxnews reported that the plane landed in Germany due to fuel shortage and the man surrendered himself, with no cause given for the event. Go