Saudi Arabia hosts 895,175 Yemeni, Syrian refugees as guests: KSRelief chief

May 7, 2017

Ottawa, May 7: Royal Court Adviser and General Supervisor of the King Salman Center for Relief and Humanitarian Aid (KSRelief) Abdullah Al-Rabeeah, underscored the Kingdom’s leading role in humanitarian work and its commitment to the international humanitarian law, which corresponds to the teachings of Islam that call for the preservation of human dignity and sparing mankind suffering.

KSReliefAl-Rabeeah who is visiting the province of Ottawa made his remarks in the presence of Saudi Ambassador to Canada Naif bin Bandar Al-Sudairi and a group of Canadian journalists whom he briefed on KSRelief’s vision and message, stressing its commitment to international law and collaboration with the UN and other global humanitarian organizations.

He said the Kingdom has been showing utmost concern for the humanitarian situation in Yemen, sending aid to all Yemeni provinces, including areas controlled by the Houthi militia, through KSRelief programs.

KSRelief carried out 127 projects in Yemen providing relief and humanitarian aid, as well as shelter, in addition to agricultural and water programs, Al-Rabeeah said.

KSRelief was able to reach everywhere in Yemen through 81 international and local partners; its programs place special emphasis on children and women projects, he said.

Al-Rabeeah said Saudi Arabia received 603,833 Yemeni refugees with their families who are allowed to move freely and work.

Beyond its borders, the Kingdom offered support to Yemeni refugees in Djibouti and Somalia, he added.

At the same time, the Kingdom, he said, was among the first countries to give support to the Syrian people, of whom it welcomed 291,342 as refugees, allowing them to live in the Kingdom as guests.

Thousands of them work and 114,000 Syrian students are enrolled in government schools. At the same time, similar support is given by the Kingdom to millions of refugees in neighboring countries, he added.

Al-Rabeeah also stressed the Kingdom’s concern over the humanitarian situations in Iraq, Somalia and other disaster-hit countries.

Through KSRelief, the Kingdom has so far provided $700 million worth of aid to 37 countries, he said.

He also spoke about the difficulty of delivering aid through Al-Hudeidah port in Yemen, in view of the fact that the fell under the control of Houthis who seize aid, depriving the Yemeni people of their simplest rights for political ends.

Al-Rabeeah also talked about the Kingdom’s Vision 2030 and the National Transformation Program (NTP) 2020 that aim at building a strong economy and creating job opportunities, and encourage humanitarian and voluntary work.

He stressed that the Arab Coalition forces facing terrorism is performing its role in response to the call of the Yemeni people and in line with the outcome of the national dialogue, UN resolutions and GCC initiative.

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Agencies
July 28,2020

Dubai, Jul 28: Abu Dhabi Commercial Bank (ADCB) (ADCB.AD) is letting go hundreds of employees, sources said, the latest in a round of lay-offs by regional banks as pressure mounts to cut costs amid lower oil prices and the coronavirus crisis.

The UAE’s third-biggest lender is laying off 400 employees, two sources familiar with the matter said, after it had committed to not cutting staff because of the crisis.

In a statement, a spokesman said ADCB had pursued efficiency over the last decade by managing out its lowest underachievers after regular reviews, while ensuring talent was deployed in high-growth areas, such as digital banking.

“A certain number of redundancies are therefore expected every year in the normal course of business,” the bank spokesman added.

The sources said the cuts would involve ADCB’s consumer business and several in top management were among those being let go. One source said the bank was looking to close 20 branches.

In March, ADCB had declared, “No employee will be made redundant during 2020 as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.”

UAE banks have been hit by government measures to rein in the spread of the virus, forcing many businesses to shut temporarily.

Last week, Dubai’s largest bank, Emirates NBD, reported a slump of 58% in profits. In June, sources told Reuters the bank started a new round of hundreds of lay-offs.

In May, ADCB reported a fall of 84% in first-quarter net profit as it took impairments of $292 million on debt exposure to troubled hospital operator NMC Health and payments group Finablr.

It was a major lender, with an exposure of about $981 million, to NMC Health, which went into administration this year after months of turmoil following questions over financial reporting.

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News Network
February 5,2020

The Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) has said it rejects US President  Donald Trump 's recently unveiled Middle East plan.

The 57-member body, which held a summit on Monday  to discuss the plan in Saudi Arabia's Jeddah, said in a statement that it "calls on all member states not to engage with this plan or to cooperate with the US administration in implementing it in any form".

Requested by the Palestinian leadership, the meeting of the body came two days after the Arab League rejected Trump's so-called "deal of the century", saying: "It does not meet the minimum rights and aspirations of Palestinian people."

Addressing a pro-Israel audience at the White House with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu by his side, Trump on Tuesday described his long-delayed plan for resolving the Israeli-Palestinian conflict as a "win-win solution" for both sides.

The US president said his proposed deal would ensure the establishment of a two-state solution, promising Palestinians a state of their own with a new capital in Abu Dis, a suburb just outside Jerusalem. Trump also said Jerusalem would be the "undivided capital" of Israel. The Palestinians want both occupied East Jerusalem and the West Bank to be part of a future state.

Palestinian leaders, who were absent during the announcement and had rejected the proposal even before its release, denounced the plan as "a new Balfour Declaration" that heavily favoured Israel and would deny them a viable independent state.

The OIC said in a statement on Twitter on Sunday that its "open-ended executive committee meeting" at the level of foreign ministers would "discuss the organisation's position after the US administration announced its peace plan".

With member states from four continents, the OIC is the second-largest intergovernmental organisation in the world after the United Nations, with a collective population reaching more than 1.8 billion.

The majority of its member states are Muslim-majority countries, while others have significant Muslim populations, including several African and South American countries. While the 22 members of the Arab League are also part of the OIC, the organisation has several significant non-Arab member states, including Turkey, Iran and Pakistan. It also has five observer members, including Russia and Thailand.

Iran 'barred'

Meanwhile, Iran on Monday accused its regional rival Saudi Arabia of blocking its officials from attending the OIC meeting.

"The government of Saudi Arabia has prevented the participation of the Iranian delegation in the meeting to examine the 'deal of the century' plan at the headquarters of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation," Fars news agency quoted Abbas Mousavi, spokesman for Iran's foreign ministry, as saying.

Mousavi said Iran - one of the countries to strongly condemn Trump's plan - had filed a complaint with the OIC and accused its regional rival of misusing its position as the host for the organisation's headquarters.

There was no immediate comment from Saudi officials.

Following the unveiling of Trump's plan, the Saudi foreign ministry expressed appreciation for Trump's efforts and support for direct peace negotiations under Washington's auspices, while state media reported that King Salman had called Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas to reassure him of Riyadh's unwavering commitment to the Palestinian cause.

The announcement of Trump's plan drew mixed responses from Arab states.

Observers said the reaction was indicative of the division among Arab countries and their inability to prioritise the Palestinian people's plight over domestic economic agendas and political calculations in relation to the Trump administration.

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News Network
January 8,2020

Dubai, Jan 8: Iranian state television said on Wednesday that at least 80 "American terrorists" were killed in attacks involving 15 missiles Tehran launched on US targets in Iraq, adding that none of the missiles were intercepted.

State TV, citing a senior Revolutionary Guards source, also said Iran had 100 other targets in the region in its sights if Washington took any retaliatory measures. It also said US helicopters and military equipment were "severely damaged".

Iran launched missile attacks on US-led forces in Iraq in the early hours of Wednesday in retaliation for the US drone strike on an Iranian commander whose killing has raised fears of a wider war in the Middle East.

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