DOHA: The Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, has become the only Saudi and GCC ruler so far to have a genuine official Twitter account, reports Al Sharq.
He won the hearts of fellow Saudis by tweeting that he had granted a staggering $30bn as a reward to his people.
The largesse he announced after being crowned the king includes two months of salary for all public servants and defence personnel and two months of scholarships for every Saudi student, at home and abroad.
Likewise, two months’ stipend is to be paid to people with special needs and the beneficiaries of social security, and all this would add up to $30bn.
In his tweet, the Saudi ruler told his people: “You kind people, you deserve much more and whatever I did will not be able to give you what is your right. I hope Allah will be with me and with you to help us serve our religion and our country. And don’t forget me in your prayers.”
Alarabia.net reported yesterday, while reproducing his above tweet, that King Salman’s Twitter account was opened on September 23, 2013.
After the tweet, the number of the king’s followers on Twitter has increased to more than 500,000 and the figure is growing by the minute.
“The king has become a very popular figure on social media, especially Twitter,” Alarabia.net said. His tweet has evoked a huge response from Saudis and it has been re-tweeted more than 200,000 times, a record.
“The Saudi king is the first GCC leader to have an authentic and official social media account,” said Al Sharq.
That also makes him the first Saudi ruler to have been assured of his people’s allegiance in a big way electronically as Saudis have tweeted in massive numbers with the hashtag ‘Mubaya’ (allegiance), said the daily.
THE PENINSULA
