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Saudi Arabia terms Aleppo massacre a ‘war crime’

January 3, 2017

Riyadh, Jan 3: The Cabinet, chaired by King Salman at Al-Yamamah Palace in Riyadh on Monday, expressed appreciation for his order to organize a Kingdom-wide fundraising campaign to provide humanitarian assistance to the Syrian people.

king salman

The Cabinet praised the king’s directive to allocate SR100 million ($26.7 million) for the campaign, his donation of SR20 million ($5.3 million), Crown Prince Mohammed bin Naif’s donation of SR10 million ($2.7 million), and Deputy Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman’s donation of SR8 million ($2.1 million).

The Cabinet said the donations embodied the keenness of the Saudi leadership to alleviate the suffering of the Syrian people, notably those displaced from Aleppo and other areas.

The Cabinet also renewed the Kingdom’s position, taken at the emergency meeting of the executive committee of foreign ministers of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), that the massacres committed in Aleppo are “a war crime against humanity,” SPA reported.

It recalled the Kingdom’s welcoming of UN Security Council (UNSC) resolution 2328 on the deployment of international observers in Aleppo to supervise the evacuation of civilians.

The Cabinet expressed the Kingdom’s support for the Syrian people in the face of genocide by the Syrian regime throughout the country.

It stressed the Kingdom’s welcoming of proposals by US Secretary of State John Kerry on a final solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, and the UNSC’s adoption of resolution 2334 condemning Israeli settlements on occupied Palestinian land.

The Cabinet strongly condemned the assassination of the Russian envoy in Turkey, and other terrorist acts in Berlin, Baghdad, and the latest one in Istanbul.

The Cabinet congratulated King Salman on the second anniversary of his accession to the throne, and achievements made during the past two years in various fields, including the Kingdom’s international status.

The Cabinet praised the general budget for the fiscal year 2017, for its sufficient strength to cope with economic and financial challenges.

It also praised the government’s prudent fiscal policies, and its determination to move forward to enhance elements of the national economy via Vision 2030.

The Cabinet said the Saudi leadership sought through the budget to improve the efficiency of capital and operational expenditures and strengthen public finances.

It also praised the king’s directives on implementing the budget carefully to achieve the aspirations of the leadership and improve services provided to citizens.

The Cabinet assessed the outcome of the meeting of oil ministers of the Organization of Arab Petroleum-Exporting Countries (OAPEC) at its 97th session in Cairo, and the cooperation and commitment among OAPEC member states to apply the agreement on production cuts reached in November.

It approved several decisions, including a security cooperation agreement with Djibouti; a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with India on cooperation in exchanging investigations related to money-laundering, terrorism and related crimes; an MoU for cooperation in renewable energy between King Abdullah City for Atomic and Renewable Energy (K.A.CARE) and China’s National Energy Administration (NEA); and arrangements by the General Authority of Sports to streamline the sports sector, expand the base of sports practitioners, realize excellence in Saudi sports locally and internationally, and encourage investment in the sector.

The Cabinet assigned the General Authority of Statistics to implement a general census of the population and houses in 2020, and start preparations from 2017.

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Agencies
August 4,2020

Beirut, Aug 4: A massive explosion has shaken the Lebanese capital of Beirut, with a very high number of casualties expected.

A warehouse at the Beirut Port caught fire on Tuesday afternoon, triggering a huge explosion, Lebanon’s official National News Agency (NNA) reported.

Several smaller explosions were heard before the bigger one occurred.

Abbas Ibrahim, the head of Lebanon’s General Security, said that “highly explosive materials” confiscated earlier had been stored at the site.

Footage shared on social media captured the moment of the bigger explosion, with a colossal shock wave seen traveling fast across several hundreds of meters and shrouding the area in thick smoke.

The blast left enormous material damage to the surrounding buildings and structures. But it was not immediately known how big an area was affected.

There was also no immediate casualty count. Graphic amateur video from the scene showed bodies strewn on the ground, with their clothes blown off.

The NNA said rescue operations were underway. Ambulances were seen heading toward the scene in central Beirut.

Lebanese LBC television channel quoted Lebanon’s Health Minister Hamad Hasan as saying that the blast had caused a “very high number of injuries” and “extensive damage.”

Beirut Governor Marwan Abboud said an unspecified number of firefighters dispatched to extinguish the initial fire had been killed in the explosion.

“As they were putting out the fire, the explosion took place and we’ve [lost them],” he said, breaking down on live TV.

The explosion comes at a time when the Arab country is passing through its worst economic and financial crisis in decades, and amid rising tensions with Israel.

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Agencies
July 22,2020

Riyadh, Jul 22: Saudi King Salman held a cabinet meeting via video call from hospital in the capital Riyadh on Tuesday, a day after the 84-year-old monarch was admitted with inflammation of the gall bladder.

Three Saudi sources said the king was in stable condition.

A video of the king chairing the meeting was broadcast on Saudi state TV on Tuesday evening. In the video, which has no sound, King Salman can be seen behind a desk, wordlessly reading and leafing through documents.

The king, who has ruled the world’s largest oil exporter and close US ally since 2015, was undergoing medical checks, state media on Monday cited a Royal Court statement as saying.

Three well-connnected Saudi sources who declined to be identified, two of whom were speaking late on Monday and one on Tuesday, said the king was “fine”.

An official in the region, who requested anonymity, said he spoke to one of King Salman’s sons on Monday who seemed “calm” and that there was no sense of panic about the monarch’s health.

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January 15,2020

Asia, Jan 15: Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif on Wednesday said that killing of Iranian general Qassem Soleimani showed the ignorance and arrogance of the United States and asserted that Washington looks at things from their perspective and not keeping the interests of the region in mind."The US looks at things from their perspective, not from the perspective of this region. The killing of Qassem Soleimani shows ignorance and arrogance. 430 Indian cities saw protests against killing of Soleimani," Zarif said at an event.

Hitting out at US President Donald Trump and Secretary of State Michael Pompeo, Zarif said that they were the only ones, along with the Islamic State (ISIS) who celebrated the death of Soleimani.

"Who is celebrating Soleimani's killing? President Trump, Pompeo and Daesh (Arabic name of ISIS). You wonder about strange bedfellows?" he said.

Tensions between the US and Iran soared dramatically earlier this month after Washington launched airstrikes at Baghdad International Airport, which killed Soleimani. Tehran retaliated by firing a volley of ballistic missiles at two military bases of US-led coalition forces in Iraq, leading to a strife in the region.

However, Zarif regretted the shooting down of the Ukrainian airline and said it happened because of "tension".

"Nine million people were out in the streets of Iran commemorating Soleimani. You cannot bring out so many people to protest. The shooting down of a plane was a mistake. 180 families are mourning the loss of their dear ones. It happened because of tension," he said.

Asked whether there a chance of a diplomatic solution to the ongoing crisis, Zarif ruled out negotiating with the US.

"Iran is interested in diplomacy. We are not interested in negotiating with the US. US did not keep its commitments under nuclear deal. We had a US deal and the US broke it. If we have a Trump deal, how long will it last?" he said.

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