Saudi prince vows continued relief for post-Katrina N.O.
Source: New Orleans City News
O.
by Matthew Penix
07/17/2006
Prince Turki Al-Faisal, left, ambassador of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia to the United States, talks to Lt. Gov. Mitch Landrieu during a visit to New Orleans Wednesday. (Photo by Matthew Penix)
Saudi Arabia has donated more than $250 million to Katrina relief projects, ranking it among the worldÂ’s most sympathetic countries to New Orleans storm damages, said Prince Turki Al-Faisal, ambassador of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia to the United States.
And more Saudi help is in the pipeline.
Al-Faisal, touring the devastated Ninth Ward as part of a goodwill visit, told a group of political leaders Wednesday at the New Orleans World Trade Center that his country will continue to support the Crescent City.
Al-Faisal said he feels “optimistic” about the progress in the Crescent City.
“We should be encouraged at the building process,” he said. “In the face of a hurricane we are all one in the same. Today I bring the friendship of the Saudi people. I am here to see personally what we can do.”
Al-Faisal said he hopes his visit will encourage the “global community” to search for new, “ingenious and innovative” methods of hurricane protection.
Al-Faisal declined to give a specific figure on how much Saudi Arabia has donated to Hurricane Katrina relief, saying the Muslim religion frowns upon promoting philanthropic efforts. “To discuss them would belittle them,” he said.
However, the prince did say the country has donated in the ballpark of more than $100 million. Other published estimates put that figure at $250 million, said Rich Masters, a U.S. embassy media specialist.
The prince also said economic support for New Orleans would continue. Saudi Arabia has donated $80 billion, or 4 percent of its annual gross domestic product, to charitable organizations since the mid-1970s.
The United Nations reports Saudi Arabia donated $272.7 million to alleviate natural disasters in 2005 but it does not specify where the money was allocated. That ranked first out of 23 countries, according to the report.
Masters said Saudi money was donated locally to a variety of New Orleans-area organizations, including Jesuit High School, Mount Carmel Academy, Second Harvest Food Bank, Habitat for Humanity, International Orthodox Christian Charities, the Preservation Resource Center, Louisiana Office of the Governor, Society of St. Vincent de Paul, Louisiana State University, the Blood Center and Plaquemines Parish fishermen.
Prompting a boom of applause, Al-Faisal said one of the most vital needs in the cityÂ’s revitalization is reopening medical infrastructure, particularly the Charity Hospital system.
He called the system “vital” to bring people back to the city.
From 1977 to 2001, the prince led his country’s external intelligence service, the General Intelligence Directorate. In a recent speech, he said he spent 30 years in the intelligence business “without speaking to anybody.”
Al-Faisal was named Saudi ArabiaÂ’s ambassador to the United Kingdom and Ireland in January 2003 before assuming the role of U.S. ambassador.
Al-Faisal is no stranger to the United States. He came here at age 14 to attend the Lawrenceville School in New Jersey and went on to be a member of the Georgetown University class of 1968 along with former President Bill Clinton.•
