Search form

You are here

  • Home
  • Biden thanks Saudi Arabia as Kingdom evacuates over 150 foreign nationals from Sudan


Biden thanks Saudi Arabia as Kingdom evacuates over 150 foreign nationals from Sudan

A handout picture provided by the Saudi Press Agency (SPA) on April 22, 2023, shows members of the armed forces passing out chocolates and flowers to Saudi citizens and other nationals upon their arrival in Jeddah, following their rescue from Sudan. (Photo courtesy: SPA)
Short Url

https://arab.news/gcjwj

Updated 23 April 2023
Arab News
Follow

Biden thanks Saudi Arabia as Kingdom evacuates over 150 foreign nationals from Sudan

  • 5 ships carrying 158 people from 11 different countries arrived from Sudan
  • Evacuated people were transported to Jeddah in Saudi Arabia
Updated 23 April 2023
Arab News

JEDDAH: More than 150 people from various nations reached the safety of Saudi Arabia on Saturday in the first announced evacuation of civilians from Sudan, where fighting between the army and paramilitaries entered a second week following a brief lull.

Foreign nations have said they are preparing for the potential evacuation of thousands more of their nationals, even though Sudan’s main airport remains closed.

As the Kingdom’s naval forces transported the civilians, including diplomats and international officials, across the Red Sea from Port Sudan to Jeddah, fighting resumed in Sudan’s capital Khartoum after a temporary truce saw gunfire momentarily die down on Friday, the first day of Eid Al-Fitr.

Fighting has left hundreds dead and thousands wounded while survivors cope with shortages of electricity and food.

Saudi Arabia’s Foreign Ministry announced the “safe arrival” of 91 of its citizens along with nationals from Kuwait, Qatar, the UAE, Egypt, Tunisia, Pakistan, India, Bulgaria, Bangladesh, the Philippines, Canada and Burkina Faso.

It added that diplomats and international officials were among those who arrived in the evacuation operation carried out by the Royal Saudi Navy with the support of various branches of the armed forces.

US President Joe Biden thanked the Kingdom, Djibouti and Ethiopia for facilitating the plan to get US personnel out of Khartoum. 

“I thank Djibouti, Ethiopia, and Saudi Arabia, which were critical to the success of our operation,” he said in a statement on Saturday, calling for a ceasefire to allow “unhindered humanitarian access, and respect the will of the people of Sudan”. 

The Saudi ministry said in a statement: “The Kingdom worked to provide all the basic needs of foreign nationals in preparation for their departure to their countries.

“The first evacuation vessel from Sudan has arrived, carrying 50 (Saudi) citizens and a number of nationals from friendly countries,” the official Al-Ekhbariyah television said.

 

 

The first boat docked at the Red Sea port of Jeddah where the four other ships carrying 108 people from 11 different countries was expected to arrive later from Sudan, the broadcaster said.

Al-Ekhbariyah carried footage of large vessels arriving in Jeddah’s port. It also released a video showing women and children carrying Saudi flags on board one of the ships.

Those who have arrived in Jeddah include the crew of a Saudi passenger plane that was hit by gunfire while preparing to take off from Khartoum at the start of the fighting on April 15, according to Saudi state TV.

A convoy of vehicles carried the evacuees to Port Sudan from where they boarded ships to Jeddah, according to the Saudi broadcaster.

Saudi Arabia’s Deputy Foreign Minister Waleed Al-Khuraiji received the first batch of citizens and foreign nationals, upon their arrival today at King Faisal Naval Base in the Western Fleet in Jeddah on board the His Majesty King Jubail ship.

He said the journey was long, starting from Khartoum, passing through a number of regions in Sudan until reaching Port Sudan, and was done in cooperation with government agencies in the Kingdom, praising the role of the Ministry of Defense that implemented the plan.
“We all celebrate the return of our sons and the sons of brotherly and friendly countries to the Kingdom Saudi Arabia, which coincided with the celebration of Eid Al-Fitr,” he said.
Those evacuated expressed their thanks and appreciation to the Saudi government and the concerned authorities in the Kingdom for their efforts to secure their transportation and facilitate their arrival procedures to the Kingdom.

Earlier on Saturday, the Kingdom’s Foreign Ministry announced that Saudi Arabia will start arranging the evacuation of its citizens and several nationals from other “brotherly and friendly” countries from Sudan as clashes intensify despite an Eid truce.

In a statement, the Saudi foreign ministry said the evacuated people will be flown to Saudi Arabia.

 

 

The decision comes “in the implementation of the directives” of Saudi Arabia’s King Salman and Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman “to oversee the care and wellbeing of citizens of the Kingdom in the Republic of Sudan,” the foreign ministry said.

Kuwait’s Foreign Minister Sheikh Salem Abdullah Al-Jaber Al-Sabah said his country carried out an emergency operation to evacuate Kuwaiti citizens stranded in Sudan.

Sheikh Salem confirmed that all citizens wishing to return to the country had arrived safely in Jeddah, and that work was currently underway to secure their transfer to Kuwait.

The minister praised the efforts of Kuwait’s Ambassador to Sudan Dr. Fahd Mashari Al-Dhafiri, all members of the embassy in Khartoum and also extended his sincere thanks and gratitude to the Saudi authorities for coordinating and providing all the facilities for the transfer and evacuation of citizens to Jeddah.

He also thanked the Sudanese authorities and everyone who contributed to securing the safety of Kuwaiti citizens and enabling them to communicate with their families to ensure their safe return to their country.

Saturday’s evacuations mark the first major civilian rescue since violence in Sudan broke out on April 15.

Eid this year in Sudan is being marked by fear, grief and hunger.Eid is meant to be spent “with sweets and pastries, with happy children, and people greeting relatives,” Khartoum resident Sami Al-Nour said. Instead, there has been “gunfire and the stench of blood all around us.”

The Sudanese army said it was coordinating efforts to evacuate diplomats from the United States, Britain, China and France out of the country on military airplanes, as fighting persisted in the capital, including at its main airport.

The military said that army chief Gen. Abdel Fattah Burhan had spoken to leaders of various countries requesting safe evacuations of their citizens and diplomats from Sudan.

Foreign countries have struggled in vain to repatriate their citizens, a task deemed far too risky as clashes between the Sudanese army and a rival powerful paramilitary group have raged in and around Khartoum, including in residential areas.

The main international airport near the center of the capital has been the target of heavy shelling as the paramilitary group, known as the Rapid Support Forces, has tried to take control of the complex, complicating evacuation plans. With Sudan’s airspace closed, foreign countries have ordered their citizens to simply shelter in place until they can figure out evacuation plans.

The country has been roiled by bloody fighting for the past week that has killed over 400 people so far, according to the World Health Organization.

- With additional input from AFP and AP

Topics: Sudan Unrest Saudi Arabia

Ramadan boosts dates demand as Saudi sector sees seasonal rush

Updated 53 min 30 sec ago
Hajar AlQusayer
Follow

Ramadan boosts dates demand as Saudi sector sees seasonal rush

Updated 53 min 30 sec ago
Hajar AlQusayer

RIYADH: Dates hold an important place in Saudi Arabia’s spiritual and cultural fabric, and their association with hospitality and religious tradition makes them a staple of iftar tables during Ramadan.

The holy month also reshapes one of the Kingdom’s most established agricultural sectors, with the date industry shifting gear. Faith-driven consumption and a gifting culture amplifies demand throughout supermarkets and premium packaging segments.

Economic adviser Fadhel Al-Buainain told Arab News that while demand for dates remained steady across the year, domestic consumption rose noticeably during Ramadan.

“Recently, there has also been growing global demand for Saudi dates. However, local demand increases noticeably during Ramadan due to the association of dates with the iftar meal,” he said.

Many people prefer to break their fast with fresh rutab dates or, when these are unavailable, with dried dates, as per tradition. Along with the religious aspect, dates are also valued for their nutritional benefits — valuable during long fasting hours.

Al-Buainain said Ramadan was “a driver for increased sales and exports,” reinforcing the sector’s seasonal momentum, but he stressed Ramadan did not represent the industry’s true economic peak.

“I do not believe it creates a peak season, despite its marketing importance,” he said. “The true peak season is the period following the date harvest, when markets flourish and large quantities are sold as farm output supplies the market. However, in the retail sector, Ramadan can be considered one of the important seasons in which marketing activity increases.”

The distinction highlights a key dynamic in the industry. While Ramadan accelerates retail turnover and boosts demand in supermarkets and gift markets, production cycles and wholesale auctions remain closely tied to harvest season.

“The peak of date sales occurs at the time of harvest, both in terms of sales volume and prices,” Al-Buainain said.

Date auctions, he added, are linked to the beginning of the harvest, after which large quantities are sold wholesale — the most important channel for producers — before reaching retailers and consumers. By contrast, sales during Ramadan are mostly from previously harvested stock.

“For example, the upcoming Ramadan will arrive before this year’s harvest season,” he said. “Therefore, the dates being sold are from last year’s crop. This further illustrates the point.”

Despite the seasonal rise in consumption, Al-Buainain said production volumes remained sufficient to prevent significant price volatility.

“Production volumes are large, and supply exceeds demand,” he said, adding that traditional dates marketed through conventional channels were expected to maintain stable prices. Any price increases are largely confined to processed or attractively repackaged varieties.

“Price increases are linked to dates packaged in modern, gift-like formats or processed dates that include added ingredients such as nuts and others. Traditional dates, however, still have stable prices,” he said.

Most dates available locally are domestically produced, with limited processed products manufactured abroad. Price differences are primarily determined by type, quality and packaging rather than Ramadan-related demand pressures.

“There are also some practices carried out by wholesale traders through auctions, where buyers bid against one another, artificially driving prices up, filming these scenes and broadcasting them to influence prices. This cannot be taken as a reliable benchmark,” Al-Buainain told Arab News.

At a structural level, the sector has expanded significantly in recent years. Saudi date exports reached SAR 1.695 billion in 2024, according to the National Centre for Palms & Dates, citing data from the General Authority for Statistics. Production exceeded 1.9 million tonnes, with exports reaching 133 countries — a 15.9 percent increase in value compared to 2023.

Since the launch of Vision 2030, export value has grown by 192.5 percent between 2016 and 2024.

Saudi Arabia, the world’s second-largest date producer, is home to more than 33 million palm trees — representing 27 percent of the global total — across approximately 123,000 agricultural holdings.

Dates also recorded the highest self-sufficiency ratio among fruits at 121 percent, according to the General Authority of Statistics.

Al-Buainain described dates as a strategic commodity and a core component of the Kingdom’s food security framework.

The sector holds significant potential to further support agricultural diversification, provided it is backed by clearer long-term strategy, improved pest control and stronger coordination across the value chain.

“The date sector needs a clear strategy that ensures maximum benefit from dates produced in the Kingdom. It also requires full protection from expatriate labor that focuses solely on profit and harms the date sector, its future, and its sustainability,” he said.

“The sector also needs a final solution to pests that damage palm trees, including the red palm weevil, as well as the establishment of a national date company to purchase crops, process, package, distribute, and export them, in addition to entering date-based industries to generate added value for the economy.”

Topics: Ramadan2026 Ramadan Dates

Related

Saudi Arabia
Dates: An essential delight on every iftar table
Saudi Arabia
Dates—beloved jewels of the desert

Latest updates

Germany moves troops out of Iraq, citing Mideast ‘tensions’
Clashes in the West Bank kill a 19-year-old Palestinian-American, Palestinian officials say
Pakistan increases Reko Diq investment to $244 million as Barrick reviews project
Pakistan stocks plunge in record one-day fall as selling pressure grips market
Liverpool’s Slot says football must do more after Vinicius racism allegation

Search form

Print Edition
Read pdf version Subscribe now
© 2026 SAUDI RESEARCH & PUBLISHING COMPANY, All Rights Reserved And subject to Terms of Use Agreement.