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Speaking in Paris on Monday 16 January 2017, Saudi Foreign Minister Adel Al-Jubeir expressed support for the efforts being made to advance the peace process in Syria. Mr Al-Jubeir met with French Foreign Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault on the sidelines of the Middle East Peace Conference that took place in the French capital over the weekend. At the conference it was announced that the EU will host a conference on Syria and the region in Brussels in Spring 2017 focussing on the political process towards a transition. The aims of the conference are to take stock of the state of play of UN talks in Geneva; humanitarian work and support for resilience and stabilisation, to assess progress in implementing commitments made at last year’s conference in London and to identify possible gaps and how to address them, and possible support to post-conflict reconstruction and reconciliation once a credible political transition is firmly underway.

Minister Al-Jubeir’s comments were also reflected in the UN Security Council meeting of 17 January, where the Permanent Representative of Saudi Arabia to the United Nations Abdallah Y. Al-Mouallimi said the Kingdom would continue to participate in all international efforts towards achieving a peaceful resolution to the Syrian crisis. He expressed support for Council resolution 2336 (2016), which had called for a peaceful transition for Syria, as well as several General Assembly resolutions, including one which had called for the establishment of a mechanism to gather and document evidence and hold to account those responsible for war crimes or crimes against humanity. He underlined that the oppression by the Syrian regime, with the support of the Russian Federation, Iran, Hezbollah and other community militias, must come to an end, and the people of Syria must be able to determine their own political future.

Russia, Iran and Turkey’s proposed talks in the Kazakh capital Astana next week aim to reach a cease-fire in Syria. Mr Al-Jubeir said that these talks were worth testing, but should not be construed as Riyadh abandoning moderate opposition groups fighting to topple President Bashar Assad. “The objective is to arrive at a cease-fire and move on to the political process. Let us test it. So far it has not succeeded,” he said. “If it does, then we go down the political path, but that does not mean we abandon the moderate opposition.”

At their session, chaired by the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud in Riyadh on Monday afternoon, the Cabinet discussed the outcome of the International Conference for Peace in the Middle East. Minister of Foreign Affairs HE Adel Al-Jubeir represented the Kingdom at the conference in Paris, which concluded its activities yesterday with a joint statement. The cabinet reiterated that the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia’s stance on the Palestinian issue is that there must be a two-state solution and that United Nations Security Council’s relevant resolutions are the only basis for resolving the conflict which was adopted by Arab Peace Initiative and has received the support of the international community.

The Cabinet of the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud on Monday 16 January 2017 commended the announcement by the Ministry of Housing of the first steps of the My House Program including 280,000 of residential units at an investment of SR119.5 billion over the next three years. The construction projects, launched in partnership with the private sector, will be offered to Saudi families according to income criteria and the number of family’s members. The housing units will be allocated during the current year as of next month to be completed within a maximum of three years. A total of 75,000 residential plots of land in several cities ready for construction will also be handed over to citizens, stated the report.  Financial support to 85,000 deserving citizens will also be provided in one year by the state. This will be done through a partnership between the Real Estate Development Fund, banks, and financing institutions.

The Saudi Cabinet has expressed its congratulations to the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques on the occasion of his selection for winning King Faisal International Prize for Service to Islam this year in recognition of his care and service to the Two Holy Mosques and their visitors. Also praised were his Majesty’s attention to the Prophet’s biography, support for the project of Historical Atlas for the Prophet’s Life, and constant quest to unify the ranks of Arabs and Muslims to confront the difficult conditions being witnessed by Arab and Islamic nations.

The Embassy of the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques in Cairo issued a statement on Sunday, 1 January 2017 addressing the Houthi militias’ violation of international norms and conventions. The statement pointed out that the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia is committed to the United Nations Resolution 2216 a cease-fire in Yemen and allowing humanitarian aid to areas under siege and lifting the siege.

The statement stated that on 20 October 2016, that Saudi Foreign Minister  H.E. Adel Al-Jubeir confirmed the Kingdom’s support of the Yemeni government, “We support the Yemeni government’s call for an end to the violence and so the coalition will abide by it. But again I want to emphasize that we have the right to defend ourselves.”

Despite a truce lasting from 20 April 2016 until 13 July 2016, “12,704” cases of violation were recorded. 75,382 gross violations against civilians and public and private property were committed by the Houthi and Saleh-supporting militia during the first half of 2016, including cases of murder, injury, kidnapping, arrest and arbitrary attacks on public and private property, not to mention  the undermining of local authorities, the recruitment of children and the administration of collective punishment.
During the period from 2014 to 2015 there were 257 cases of violation against media institutions and 86 against websites, 91 cases of academics being kidnapped. In addition 262 arrests of military personnel were recorded along with 1,302 cases of individuals being for their political affiliation, as well as 2706 enforced disappearance and 32 individual under house arrest in Sanaa.

Find can find further details in a factsheet here.

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The kingdom of Saudi Arabia Welcomes  the proposals put forth by U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry on a final settlement of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict:
Saudi Arabia views the proposals as being in accord with the majority of the resolutions of international legality and most of the elements of the Arab Peace Initiative adopted at the Arab Summit in Beirut in 2002 and by the Islamic Summit in Makkah in 2005, and that the proposals represent an appropriate basis for achieving a final settlement of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict.

  • January 3, 2017