JEDDAH: King Salman met Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas at Al-Yamamah Palace in Riyadh on Wednesday.
During the meeting, the king reaffirmed Saudi Arabia’s longstanding support for the Palestinian cause, and the legitimate rights of the Palestinian people to establish an independent state with East Jerusalem as its capital. The two leaders also explored the latest developments in the Palestinian territories.
On Thursday, the 193-member UN General Assembly will hold a rare emergency session, at the request of Arab and Muslim countries, to vote on a draft resolution that was vetoed by the US on Monday in the 15-member Security Council.
The other 14 council members voted in favor of the Egyptian-drafted resolution, which expressed “deep regret at recent decisions concerning the status of Jerusalem.”
Palestinian UN envoy Riyad Mansour said he expected “overwhelming support” for the measure stating that Jerusalem is an issue “to be resolved through negotiations” between Israel and the Palestinians.
“On self-determination I expect we’ll get the support of around 180 countries, on sovereignty the vote will be in the 160 area, and on Jerusalem I expect 170 countries will vote with us in opposition to the US veto,” he told Arab News.
Saudi king reaffirms support for Palestine
Saudi king reaffirms support for Palestine
Saudi Arabia welcomes ceasefire agreement between Syrian Democratic Forces and Syria state
RIYADH: Saudi Arabia has welcomed an agreement between the Syrian state and Syrian Democratic Forces.
In a foreign ministry statement early on Monday, the Kingdom said it had welcomed an deal between Damascus and Kurdish Syrian Democratic Forces that was announced by the Syrian government on Sunday.
The agreement entails merging all SDF forces into the defense and interior ministries and means that Kurdish forces will redeploy to east of the Euphrates river.
The 14-point deal would also see the immediate administrative and military handover of Deir Ezzor and Raqqa governorates.
The Syrian state would regain control of all border crossings, oil fields, and gas fields in the region, with protection secured by regular forces to ensure the return of resources to the Syrian government, while considering the special case of Kurdish areas, the state news agency SANA reported.
The ceasefire comes after intense fighting between the SDF and government troops in Aleppo. But SDF troops have now pulled back from there and the Syrian army now controls most areas east of Aleppo.
The Saudi foreign ministry statement also thanked the US for the agreement. Washington is believed to have supported brokering the ceasefire between allies SDF and the Syrian government, who they have also backed diplomatically since the fall of long-time dictator Bashar Assad.
The Syrian state announced on Friday a raft of new directives to recognize Syrian Kurds, including making their language official and bolstering other rights for the minority group.
