MALAYSIA HIGHLY REGARDED BY SAUDI KING - PM NAJIB

SEPANG (Malaysia), Nov 10 (Bernama) -- King Abdullah Aziz Al-Saud of Saudi Araia has high regards for Malaysia and the leadership of Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak. In fact King Abdullah, who is the custodian of the Al-Haram Mosque (Masjidil Haram), also expressed his full support for Najib's leadership in administering the country. The King disclosed this to Najib during the 25-minute telephone conversation between the Ruler, who was in Riyadh, and Najib, who was at the Mina Guest Palace at 7.45pm on Monday. In this regard, Najib, in his speech upon returning from the Holy Land and arriving at the Kompleks Bunga Raya, KL International Airport, here today said: "This shows that the Saudi Arabian government, particularly King Abdullah, who is custodian of the holy mosque, as well as the whole Muslim leaderhsip of the Saudi Arabian government look highly on Malaysia and our government." Thus, Najib said, the support showed that the country's leadership was on the right track and this strengthened the spirit of the national leadership to continue the ongoing struggle. Najib and his entourage, including his wife, Rosmah Mansor and his mother, Rahah Mohamad Noah, arrived home on a special aircraft at 3.25pm and were greeted on arrival by Deputy Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin and his wife, Noorainee Abdul Rahman. The Prime Minister said Malaysia was also given extraordinary recognition by the Saudi Arabian government during his stay in the country to perform the haj. "Wednesday night, I also became the first government leader to have met the new Crown Prince, Prince Naif (Abdul Aziz), in a meeting which lasted about half an hour," he said. Prince Naif is also Saudi Arabia's Deputy Prime Minister and Home Minister. The Prime Minister said for the first time in history, Minister in the Prime Minister's Department Jamil Khir Baharom was also given the honour to deliver a speech in Arabic language at the Mina Palace, which was highly commended by the audience. Najib also expressed his appreciation for Muhyiddin's excellent performance in leading the country during his absence. "Thank you for being here to welcome us home. Alhamdulillah (All praises to Allah) we managed to perform the haj and hopefully it will be accepted by Allah. "On that note, we will now continue our struggles in high spirit and strength to ensure that all our objectives and goals will be achieved," he added. -- BERNAMA