"RIYADH, 5 January 2005 — Saudi Arabia has tripled its assistance to Asia's tsunami victims to $ 30million. Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Fahd directed that the $ 10million donation announced earlier by the Kingdom be raised to $ 30million "in light of the size of the tragedy and the losses" suffered by the countries affected by the disaster, according to the Saudi Press Agency.
King Fahd and Crown Prince Abdullah have instructed the Saudi Arabian Television to organize a telethon to collect donations for the victims. The telethon will be held tomorrow, Thursday, with phone-in addresses appearing on the screen.
Meanwhile a delegation from the Jeddah-based Islamic Development Bank (IDB) left for Jakarta to participate in tomorrow's summit of world leaders to discuss the scale of disaster and how to rebuild the devastated region.
Many Saudi businessmen and children have donated money and goods to help all the victims of the Asian tsunamis. One leading industrialist, who requested anonymity, told Arab News he had chartered a plane to take tons of aid, disinfectants and detergents to affected areas, while school children have donated their pocket money to help the victims. Three Saudi youths from Jubail are heading to Indonesia to help in the relief effort.
Most Saudis are reluctant to make public their charitable contributions, viewing this as a form of boasting, but many told Arab News they had decided to go public after foreign news stories accused Gulf states of being stingy in responding to the Asian calamity."
I still find it appalling that people are using this tragedy as an opportunity to spread misinformation and hatred towards Muslims.