by admin | May 25, 2021 | Muslim World
Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte
Rome : The Italian government backs a halt to the selling of arms to Saudi Arabia and intends to announce its position the issue “soon”, populist premier Giuseppe Conte told reporters in Rome on Friday.
“We are not in favour of the sale of these weapons,” Conte said at his end-of-year press conference.
“I can confirm that discussion of this question is on the agenda.”
“We are assessing the possible consequences and will soon reach our conclusions,” Conte stated.
He was answering a question on Italy’s ongoing arms exports to Saudi Arabia given the devastating Saudi-led aerial bombardment of Yemen and the Kingdom’s suspected involvement in the brutal murder of dissent Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi in Istanbul in October.
—IANS/AKI
by admin | May 25, 2021 | Muslim World
Riyadh : Saudi Arabia’s capital Riyadh will host on Wednesday the first meeting of foreign ministers of the Arab and African countries bordering the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden.
The meeting will discuss means of joint coordination to protect and secure navigation in the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden as well as maximizing the economic and commercial benefits of this vital international shipping corridor.
At the end of the meeting, a press conference will be held to announce the results of the discussions, where the ministers are expected to come up with a permanent mechanism for joint coordination among the Arab and African countries bordering the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden.
—AB/UNA-OIC
by admin | May 25, 2021 | Muslim World
Jeddah : Saudi Arabia and Pakistan on Sunday signed the bilateral Hajj agreement for the year 2019. Minister of Hajj and Umrah Mohammed Saleh Benten and visiting Pakistan Federal Minister for Religious Affairs Pir Noorul Haq Qadri signed the agreement at the minister’s office in Makkah.
Deputy Minister of Hajj and Umrah Dr. Abdulfattah Bin Sulaiman Mashat, Secretary for Hajj Affairs Hussain Sherif and other senior officials from the Saudi side while Religious Affairs Secretary Muhammed Mushtaq Ahmad and Director General of Hajj Dr. Sajid Yousfani from the Pakistani side attended the discussions held prior to the signing of the agreement.
As part of the Kingdom’s initiative to sign annual bilateral Hajj agreements with Islamic countries, the Hajj minister received the Pakistani delegation, according to a statement issued by the ministry.
Minister Benten also received the delegation from Jordan, headed by Awqaf and Islamic Affairs Minister Abdul Nasser Abul Bassal.
The visiting ministers commended the Hajj arrangements made by Saudi Arabia and hailed the services being offered by Kingdom to pilgrims, the statement added.
The Pakistani minister said the effective usage of technology has significantly eased the performance of the Hajj ritual. The Hajj quota for Pakistan for the year 2019 will be 184,210, which is an increase of 5,000, compared with last year’s 179,210.
Pakistan is set to implement E-Hajj visa program from the next season. Pakistan will be included in the Makkah Road scheme to implement Proof of Concept (POC) system for pre-clearance at the Karachi airport, said a senior Pakistan official.
The POC system enables immigration checks in home countries at the time of departure, instead of upon arrival in the Kingdom. The scheme known as the Makkah Road significantly reduces the waiting time for pilgrims at the Saudi airports upon arrival.
The official said 35,000 pilgrims from the Sindh province would be covered in the first phase of the scheme, which will be expanded to other parts of the country subsequently, the official said.
—AG/UNA-OIC
by admin | May 25, 2021 | Muslim World
Manama : A new oil pipeline was launched on Monday during a ceremony that was attended by leaders from Bahrain and Saudi Arabia.
Bahrain’s King Hamad praised strong ties between the two countries as he launched the AB-4 pipeline to celebrate over 70 years of bilateral energy cooperation, Xinhua news agency reported.
Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud also attended the event.
The new 112-km long AB-4 oil pipeline has a capacity of over 350,000 barrels of crude oil per day, which will replace the existing 73-year-old pipeline system.
The new oil pipeline starts from Saudi Aramco’s Abqaiq Plants and finish at the Bahrain Petroleum Company (Bapco) Refinery in Bahrain.
“Bahrain cherishes the strong historic bonds it shares with Saudi Arabia and is committed to further strengthening these ties to drive continued sustainable development,” said King Hamad in a statement released by the Bahrain News Agency.
The country’s top leader praised the Saudi leadership and the longstanding cooperation between Bapco and Saudi Aramco, a partnership which has continually enhanced bilateral relations since 1945.
The Saudi crown prince visited Bahrain as part of his tour, and met with senior Bahraini officials including Prime Minister Prince Khalifa bin Salman Al-Khalifa and Crown Prince Salman bin Hamad Al-Khalifa.
Bahrain’s Cabinet and the Shura Council praised the high-level visit by the Saudi crown prince and said it reflects strong bilateral ties.
—IANS
by admin | May 25, 2021 | Muslim World
Washington : US President Donald Trump on Tuesday said that the CIA had not reached a “definitive” conclusion about who ordered the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi, despite press reports saying that the agency has determined that Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman ordered the hit.
The CIA has “nothing definitive” on the crown prince’s involvement in the killing, Trump said in a statement released Tuesday, adding that “It could very well be that the Crown Prince had knowledge of this tragic event — maybe he did and maybe he didn’t! That being said, we may never know all of the facts surrounding the murder of Mr. Jamal Khashoggi,”
Trump clearly suggested in his statement that Saudi oil production was a key factor in his decision not to acknowledge the CIA’s analysis, noting that after the US, “Saudi Arabia is the largest oil producing nation in the world.” Efe reported.
“They have worked closely with us and have been very responsive to my requests to keeping oil prices at reasonable levels — so important for the world,” he said.
The president also said that his decision was made in the “absolute security and safety of America,” emphasising that Riyadh is very important to Washington in the “fight against Iran” and maintaining the kingdom as a partner is vital to “our paramount goal to fully eliminate the threat of terrorism throughout the world!”
“Very simply it is called America First!” the statement reads in closing.
Khashoggi, who was a columnist for The Washington Post, died October 2 inside the Saudi Consulate in Istanbul, where he had gone to obtain documents enabling him to marry his Turkish fiancee.
Weeks later, the Saudi government acknowledged that he was killed inside the consulate and last Thursday the kingdom’s attorney general announced he would seek the death penalty for five of the 11 suspects charged in connection with the journalist’s death.
In a press conference in Riyadh, Saud al-Mojeb insisted that the crown prince had not had any prior knowledge of the operation, whose original aim was to bring Khashoggi back to Riyadh.
Trump awaited a CIA report on Tuesday about Khashoggi’s murder, which, according to media accounts, contains the conclusion that MbS, as the crown prince is known, had ordered Khashoggi’s assassination.
Long a member of the Saudi establishment, Khashoggi became estranged from the government as a result of his criticism of the crown prince and had been living in self-imposed exile in the US since 2017.
In his statement, Trump made light of the CIA’s conclusion and even seemed to contest it when he said of the crown prince that “maybe he didn’t” have any knowledge of the tragic event, and made it clear he was not planning any punitive measures against Saudi Arabia related to the case.
“The US intends to remain a steadfast partner of Saudi Arabia to ensure the interests of our country, Israel and all other partners in the region,” Trump said.
“I understand there are members of Congress who, for political or other reasons, would like to go in a different direction — and they are free to do so. I will consider whatever ideas are presented to me, but only if they are consistent with the absolute security and safety of America,” he said.
The statement, apparently dictated by Trump and full of exclamation points, begins with his “America First” slogan, followed by a warning that “The world is a very dangerous place!” and a tirade against Iran’s activities in the Middle East.
—IANS
