SAUDI ARABIA/ JERUSALEM: Saudi Arabia puts Jerusalem on new currency notes

Record ID: 188063

  • Title: SAUDI ARABIA/ JERUSALEM: Saudi Arabia puts Jerusalem on new currency notes
  • Date: 27th May 2007
  • Summary: (MER1) JEDDAH, SAUDI ARABIA (RECENT) (REUTERS) EXTERIOR SAUDI ARABIAN MONETARY AGENCY SIGN READING 'SAUDI ARABIAN MONETARY AGENCY'
  • Embargoed: 11th June 2007 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Topics: International Relations,Economic News
  • Reuters ID: LVA87VTZ046I38RH159JGIQLZ5QC
  • Story Text: As Saudi Arabia issues new banknotes carrying images of the Muslim holy sites in Jerusalem, Palestinians express gratitude but say what they really need is financial support to help them stay put in Israeli-occupied Arab East Jerusalem.
    Saudi Arabia has issued new banknotes which for the first time carry the image of the Muslim holy sites in Jerusalem, in a move officials said reflects the kingdom's concern for the Palestinian issue.
    The new notes -- the fifth currency to appear since the kingdom was founded in 1932 -- show familiar images such as that of founder of the kingdom King Abdul-Aziz Al Saud and Islamic holy sites in Mecca and Medina.
    But the 50 riyal ($13.3) note, which came into circulation only last week, shows on one side the al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem's old city and the Dome of the Rock, from which Muslims believe the Prophet Muhammad ascended to heaven, on the other side.
    ''The 50 riyal note, evidently because the Palestinian issue is important to us, not only as Saudis but to as Arabs and Muslims too. So, it is because of this issue that the picture of al-Aqsa was put on the notes. On the 100 riyal note, they put an image of Madina, of the Prophet's Mosque,'' said Tamer al-Rajhi, a Saudi businessman.
    King Abdullah, a staunch U.S. ally who ascended the throne in 2005, appears on all denominations of the currency notes.
    "On the 500 riyal note, and on all the others, are pictures of King Abdullah, the custodian of the two holy mosques," al-Rajhi added.
    Palestinians in Jerusalem said they were grateful to Saudi Arabia for the gesture, but many said that what the Palestinians really need is financial aid to help them get through the current economic situation, to protect and restore Jerusalem's Muslim holy sites and to enable them to stay put in the city, which Israel seized from Jordan in the 1967 war..
    "We hope that these sums that the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia promised will be made available to us as soon as possible so that we can continue to restore the remaining sections of Jerusalem's al-Haram al-Sharif and the old city and other places in the city of Jerusalem," said Mounir Ghoul, a resident of East Jerusalem.
    Ghoul was referring to an aid package of $250 million of Saudi money -- equivalent to some six weeks of the Palestinian Authority's basic funding needs -- which, according to the Palestinian ministry of finance, is expected to start arriving soon.
    Other residents of Jerusalem believe that Saudi Arabia decided to feature some of Jerusalem's holy sites on its new bank notes because of the suffering that Palestinians and especially are enduring.
    "It's because of the way we are suffering and the difficult situation that the Palestinian people are going through, especially in Jerusalem, because it is they who are are affected most by the economic situation in the country. We want to thank Saudi Arabia for the help they have given to the Palestinians, and the people of Jerusalem in particular," said Khalid Abu Rmila, who also lives in Jerusalem.
    "The situation in the old city and and in Jerusalem, it is critical. The people now and the residents of the old city are going through a very difficult time and I think that financial support will help us survive for longer," added another Jerusalem resident, Mohammed Natsha.
    Saudi Arabia sees itself as the world's leading Islamic nation, but faces competition from Shi'ite Muslim power Iran which under President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has made the Palestinian issue central to a new activist regional policy.
    Arab East Jerusalem has been in Israeli hands since the 1967 Middle East war and was the focal point of the Palestinian uprising against Israeli occupation which began in 2000.
    The al-Aqsa Mosque is also cited by Arab politicians as the shrine towards which the Prophet Mohammed first ordered Muslims to turn in prayer, before Mecca took precedence.
    King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia is regarded as having an activist pan-Arab political outlook. At an Arab summit this year he publicly branded the U.S. military presence in Iraq as an "illegitimate occupation".
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