JEDDAH: Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah on Friday described King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST) in Thuwal as a symbol of loyalty to his father King Abdul Aziz, the founder of Saudi Arabia.
"I am extremely happy over the inauguration of KAUST on the Kingdom's National Day when we remember the struggle and resolve of the founder of our modern state," the king said in a reply cable to Crown Prince Sultan, deputy premier and minister of defense and aviation.
"This university is an appropriate symbol of our loyalty and allegiance to the unifier of our country who had dedicated his life in the way of God," the king said. "We present this university as one of the fruits of his efforts as a cultural, humanitarian and scientific landmark."
King Abdullah opened KAUST, a world-class research university, on Wednesday in the presence of several heads of state, global business leaders, Nobel laureates and celebrated academics.
"We have received your cable expressing your noble feelings on the opening of KAUST," the king told Prince Sultan, who is currently recuperating in the Moroccan city of Agadir following a successful surgical operation.
"We hope that KAUST will become a lighthouse of knowledge, benefiting our people, religion and the humanity at large through a blend of thoughts and knowledge," the king said.
In his cable, Prince Sultan congratulated the king on the inauguration of KAUST and called it a global scientific achievement.
"The idea of this university has been in your mind as a dream for the last 25 years and you were able to make it a reality in record time," the prince said.
Prince Sultan said KAUST's opening ceremony was an honor for all Saudis, adding that it also reflected King Abdullah's international reputation. "I know you as an ardent lover of the nation, a sincere believer, a strong supporter of the Ummah and a lover of humanity," he said, praising King Abdullah's efforts to achieve concord between civilizations and promote justice and tolerance.
"You have worked to present dialogue as a means to end conflicts and opened channels of cooperation between nations. As a result, the world respected you as an inspiring leader, a wise politician, an advocate of peace, a benefactor of the poor, a backer of scientists. You symbolize humanity and mercy and this university came as a result of those efforts."
The crown prince underscored the university's main objective of achieving a scientific renaissance in the Islamic world and hoped that its graduates would become messengers of mercy and propagators of goodness and work for the betterment of humanity.
"This university is just a part of your larger national modernization project. You have established several industrial cities, supported research chairs and doubled the number of universities in the country and built knowledge-based economy and invested for the education and training of Saudi manpower in order to take the Kingdom to the level of advanced countries. We have adopted the material resources to become a country in the first industrialized world, and seek God's support to make it a reality," the crown prince said, wishing that the Kingdom would make more achievements during the rule of King Abdullah.
By P.K. Abdul Ghafour
© Arab News 2009
