KSA: Al Musawara From Terror Hideout to Cultural Hub

Saudi cultural center in Al Musawara neighborhood in Al-Awamiyah town,Eastern Province , Saudi Arabia, Asharq Al Awsat
Saudi cultural center in Al Musawara neighborhood in Al-Awamiyah town,Eastern Province , Saudi Arabia, Asharq Al Awsat
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KSA: Al Musawara From Terror Hideout to Cultural Hub

Saudi cultural center in Al Musawara neighborhood in Al-Awamiyah town,Eastern Province , Saudi Arabia, Asharq Al Awsat
Saudi cultural center in Al Musawara neighborhood in Al-Awamiyah town,Eastern Province , Saudi Arabia, Asharq Al Awsat

Within a year of the Saudi government’s decision to reform and develop Al Musawara neighborhood in Al-Awamiyah town nestled in the Eastern Province, the locality has been transformed from a springboard for terror assaults against security servicemen to a cultural center meant to advance provincial stability.

Saudi security forces have successfully routed terrorist groups that were holed up in the neighborhood that has become home to one of the country’s greatest cultural and development projects achieved in under 12 months.

Mayor of the Eastern Province Fahd Bin Mohammed Al-Jubeir confirmed that the project’s construction works were accomplished.

Speaking to Asharq Al Awsat, Jubeir said that the total cost of the project stood at $64 million dollars (SAR 239 million riyals) and was finished in the remarkable period of eight months.

The educational center is one of the development projects that are designed to preserve the urban and cultural identity in the eastern region, combining heritage and tradition with modern day architecture and development.

Considered a regional milestone in development for the Eastern Province, the center spans over an area of 180,000 square meters and provides a number of multi-cultural, tourist and commercial services to both locals and visitors.

More so, Jubeir reaffirmed that the Eastern Region Secretariat is working rapidly to wrap up the finishing touches on the project for a timely delivery without undercutting construction quality and safety standards.

Last October, the project’s completion rate was 70 percent. The project will include commercial stores, a cultural center, a public library, a sports complex, cafes, restaurants, men’s and women’s halls, a shopping mall, a women’s club, a kindergarten, and a car park.

The center will also host landmark heritage towers built on an area of 866 square meters.



Putin Thanks Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince for Helping Major US-Russia Prisoner Swap

Russian President Vladimir Putin and Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman walk during a meeting in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia December 6, 2023. Sputnik/Aleksey Nikolskyi/Kremlin via REUTERS/ File Photo Purchase Licensing Rights
Russian President Vladimir Putin and Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman walk during a meeting in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia December 6, 2023. Sputnik/Aleksey Nikolskyi/Kremlin via REUTERS/ File Photo Purchase Licensing Rights
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Putin Thanks Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince for Helping Major US-Russia Prisoner Swap

Russian President Vladimir Putin and Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman walk during a meeting in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia December 6, 2023. Sputnik/Aleksey Nikolskyi/Kremlin via REUTERS/ File Photo Purchase Licensing Rights
Russian President Vladimir Putin and Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman walk during a meeting in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia December 6, 2023. Sputnik/Aleksey Nikolskyi/Kremlin via REUTERS/ File Photo Purchase Licensing Rights

Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Thursday that he was grateful to Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman for helping to organize the biggest US-Russian prisoner swap since the Cold War.

"Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince played an active role in the initial stages of this work. We are very grateful to him, as it resulted in the return of our citizens to the homeland," Putin said at the Eastern Economic Forum.

Putin and Prince Mohammed bin Salman, have fostered a close personal relationship since 2015 when the prince visited Russia for the first time.

The relationship has helped the leaders of the world's two biggest oil exporters conclude and maintain the OPEC+ energy deal.

US journalist Evan Gershkovich and ex-US Marine Paul Whelan returned to the United States on Aug. 1, hours after being freed from Russian detention in the biggest prisoner exchange between the two countries since the Cold War, according to Reuters.

The swap deal, worked on in secrecy for more than a year, involved 24 prisoners - 16 moving from Russia to the West and eight sent back to Russia from the West.

Putin also thanked Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan for providing the venue for the exchange. He mentioned that several other Arab countries facilitated the swap but did not name them.