Saudi crown prince to welcome PM at airport

Mohammed Salman Abdulaziz Al-Saud
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RIYADH – Saudi Arabian Crown Prince Mohammed Salman Abdulaziz Al-Saud will personally welcome Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin when the latter arrives at the King Khalid International Airport, here, Monday.

“It was not in the original itinerary. His Royal Highness the Crown Prince has made the decision himself,” Foreign Minister Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Tun Hussein told Malaysian media, here.

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“The whole airport will be closed as HRH the Crown Prince wants to welcome the Prime Minister there,” said Hishammuddin.

Muhyiddin Yassin is entering the third day of his four-day official visit to Saudi Arabia.

Muhyiddin is scheduled to arrive at the international airport at 6.30 pm Monday (11.30 pm Monday in Malaysia).

He will fly in from Madinah after visiting the tomb of Prophet Muhammad SAW and the Nabawi Mosque.

The prime minister who arrived in this country Saturday for an official visit, landed in Makkah first to perform the Umrah and was accorded the rare privilege of entering the Kaabah.

The official visit is at the invitation of King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al-Saud, aimed at strengthening traditional areas of cooperation and forging greater partnership in new areas, such as new technology and innovation, as well as energy collaboration.

Close relationship

Hishammuddin said the fact that Saudi Arabia invited the prime minister for the visit is a great success considering “our bilateral relationship was not at the level that we wanted in the last few years”.

“The reset started a year ago. A lot of work has been done and the biggest challenge is to build trust and sincerity.

“Moving forward, we need to maintain the momentum…success comes from the fact that we are being received by Saudi Arabia,” said the foreign minister.

He said Malaysia could not ignore the importance of having good Putrajaya-Riyadh ties.

Muhyiddin is scheduled to meet King Salman virtually from the Al-Yamamah Palace, here, tomorrow.

Hishammuddin said the 85-year-old King Salman had never met foreign leaders face-to-face since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic.

“Therefore, having a virtual meeting is already considered extraordinary,” Hishammuddin.

The prime minister will also be meeting Prince Mohammed, who is also the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Defence, at the palace before concluding the official visit.

Ready and capable

Health Minister Datuk Seri Dr Adham Baba meanwhile in a related development has said that the Health Ministry (MOH) facilities are ready and capable of administering COVID-19 vaccine to Malaysian pilgrims if the haj is allowed to be performed this year, said its .

He said the Malaysian government was waiting for the haj quota to be announced by the Saudi Arabian government.

“If the haj can be performed this year, the number of pilgrims involved is between 30,000 and 50,000. This can be easily administered by the MOH,” he said in a press conference with Coordinating Minister for National COVID-19 Immunisation Programme, Khairy Jamaluddin, on the vaccination exercise, here today.

On March 3, Saudi Arabian Health Minister Dr Tawfiq Al-Rabiah was reported to have said that only people who have been vaccinated against COVID-19 will be allowed to perform the haj.

Dr Adham said Malaysian haj pilgrims would be administered with either Pfizer-BioNTech or Sinovac, and possibly AstraZeneca if the vaccine reached Malaysia early.

The first batch of AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine to Malaysia is expected to arrive in the second quarter of this year.

According to Dr Adham, the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine will be given to pilgrims starting this May as it requires two doses before they start their journey to Makkah to perform the haj in middle of June.

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