KSA rejects foreign interference in Iraq

June 17, 2014

Interference in Iraq
Jeddah, Jun 17: Saudi Arabia rejected Monday the idea of any foreign interference in Iraq and blamed Baghdad’s “sectarian and exclusionary” policies for the worsening security situation in the country.

Fighters from the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) have seized several Iraqi cities, threatening to split the country down sectarian lines, a deeply worrying prospect for the region and beyond.

The crisis “would not have happened if it wasn’t for the sectarian and exclusionary policies that were practiced in Iraq in past years and which threatened its security, stability and sovereignty,” the Council of Ministers said.

The Cabinet, chaired by Deputy Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques Prince Salman, said it was necessary to “preserve Iraq’s sovereignty” and rejected any outside interference in Baghdad’s internal affairs. It also urged the “quick formation of a national consensus government.”

Militants, spearheaded by ISIL and joined by supporters of former President Saddam Hussein, have in the past week overrun a large chunk of northern and north-central Iraq, although their advance has since been slowed.

Saudi analyst Abdel Aziz Al-Sagr said Riyadh was concerned its US ally might give Tehran its tacit blessing for intervention in Iraq. “We need regional coordination over Iraq, not a US-Iranian dialogue,” said Al-Sagr.

Qatar’s Foreign Minister Khaled Al-Attiyah said the trigger for the unrest was the marginalization of Iraq’s Sunni Arabs. He cited as examples the crackdown by security forces on peaceful protests by the minority community in April 2013 and January this year. “This has deepened the divide between the components of the brotherly Iraqi people,” Al-Attiyah said in comments reported by the official Qatari news agency late on Sunday.

“Nouri Al-Maliki is worse, and more dangerous, than ISIL and Al-Qaeda,” said columnist Abdul Rahman Al-Rashed. “He is a bad person who is ready to commit massacres to stay in power.”

Culture and Information Minister Abdul Aziz Khoja said the Cabinet also emphasized the importance of protecting and alleviating the suffering of civilians.

The Cabinet welcomed the final statement of the International Summit to Combat Violence in Conflict Zones held in London. It reiterated the Kingdom’s appeal to the international community to take measures, including passing legislation, to uphold the rights of women, and protect civilians in conflict zones. Such actions should be treated as crimes against humanity and perpetrators punished, the Cabinet said.

The Cabinet called for concerted international efforts to counter terrorism, which it described as the most serious challenge facing the world.

It stressed that the establishment of the rule of law, development, education, and dialogue were the most effective ways to eradicate the root of the problem, Khoja said.

The council reviewed the meeting of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) in Vienna, including its discussions on the state of the international oil market and decisions to maintain the current production ceiling until the end of the year.

Spelling out other Cabinet decisions, Khoja said it exempted the Makkah Trains Company from having to issue tenders for the work in the city. Competition would be limited to the companies that were initially invited and qualified. The contracts would be based on those adopted by the International Federation of Consulting Engineers, it said.

The Makkah Trains Company would manage the implementation of the project and submit its annual budget to the supervisory committee. The executive committee would oversee the budget.

The Cabinet authorized the head of the Youth Welfare Presidency to discuss with Korea a draft memorandum of understanding for sports cooperation. It also inducted four new members onto the board of directors of the Saudi Exports Development Authority (SEDA) for three years.

The Cabinet approved another bill to regulate the activities of female beauty parlors. Those running the parlors should obtain licenses from the municipality, which would be issued with the Commission for the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice, and Civil Defense.

The activities would be limited to activities related to the beauty industry. There would be strict control in terms of Islamic law. Females applying for licenses should be Saudi, and not younger than 25, except for those who have obtained a diploma in the field from a technical college. The licensed woman should commit to manage the shop by herself or appoint a full-time Saudi manager.

The Cabinet appointed Mohammad bin Saleh Almonas director general of the Department of Technical Affairs; Salman bin Abdulaziz Shuwaiheen director general of the department of expatriates at the Ministry of Interior; and Ali bin Abdullah Alhamda sector chief at the Ministry of Finance.

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News Network
November 21,2024

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Hamas says the Israeli regime’s sole objective lies in “erasing” the entirety of the Palestinian population from across the Palestinian territories.

Khalil al-Hayya, a ranking official with the Gaza Strip-based Palestinian resistance movement, made the remarks to the Palestinian al-Aqsa TV on Wednesday.

“The occupation targets everyone—it strikes hospitals, civil defense, women, children, and the elderly,” he said, adding that the regime sought to “empty Gaza of its residents, and displace the Palestinian people to fulfill its dreams of building a Zionist Jewish state across all of Palestine.”

The remarks came amid the regime’s October 2023-present war of genocide on the coastal sliver that has so far claimed the lives of nearly 44,000 Palestinians, mostly women and children.

“This unprecedented aggression in modern times evokes scenes from the dark ages of human history, having crossed all red lines and exceeded every expectation of brutality in the modern era,” the Palestinian official lamented.

He also regretted that the regime had added “systematic and dangerous starvation to its aggression, falsely claiming before the world that it allows 250 [aid] trucks into Gaza daily. In reality, the number of trucks is far fewer.”

Hayya, meanwhile, regretted that “scenes of children torn apart, women screaming over their children, and heart-wrenching destruction have failed to stir enough humanity to stop these crimes.”

He decried the United States for vetoing the United Nations Security Council’s resolutions that are aimed at bringing about a potential ceasefire in the war, saying this indicated Washington’s “partnership in the aggression” and a simultaneous siege that the Israeli regime has been enforcing on Gaza.

Addressing Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, the official asserted that, despite what the Israeli official is after, Hamas would not hand over the regime’s captives “without [the regime’s] stopping the war.”

He called Netanyahu “the main obstacle” in the way of cessation of the aggression, saying the Israeli premier “blocks any progress for political reasons,” and citing his preventing conclusion of a ceasefire agreement in July.

Hayya also warned that the regime sought to expand the war beyond Gaza, but asserted that its goals are “impossible and will never happen.”

“Today, the enemy exposes its true intentions of extermination and displacement, but it will fail,” he stressed.

“The Palestinian people are resilient and will not surrender, as they believe in their humanitarian and political cause. The enemy and its allies will not succeed in achieving their goals. This steadfast people will endure, and the occupation will not prevail against them.”

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News Network
November 17,2024

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An Israeli airstrike on the office of Syria’s Baath party in Lebanon’s capital Beirut has killed the Lebanese resistance movement Hezbollah's Media Relations Officer, Mohammad Afif, reports say.

Lebanon's National News Agency (NNA) reported that the Israeli raid struck the Ba'ath party’s building in central Beirut district of Ras Al-Naba'a on Sunday, adding that the strike was an attempt to assassinate the leader of the resistance media front.

According to Baath Secretary-General Ali Hijazi, Afif was having a meeting in the Baath Party headquarters when Israel carried out the attack.

"Afif did not fight with weapons and did not lead a military unit in Hezbollah. Rather, he led a media unit," he said.

Reuters, Sky News, Al Jazeera and a number of Henrew-language media reported that Afif was killed in the Israeli strike.

However, Hezbollah has not yet confirmed Afif’s death or whether he was present at the site or not.

Earlier, the Lebanese Health Ministry said at least one person was killed and three others injured after an Israeli strike targeted a central district in Beirut.

Lebanon's al-Mayadeen television network reported that five people were killed in the attack.

The latest development came after Afif said Hezbollah was behind the Caesarea operation and targeting Netanyahu’s home during a speech at the Ghobeiry area in the southern suburbs of Beirut on October 22.

This was the second assassination attempt on Afif in the last two months, after he survived an attack on the Hezbollah media relations office several weeks ago.

Israel launched a ground assault and massive air campaign against Lebanon in late September after a year of exchanging fire across the Lebanese border in parallel with the Gaza war.

At least 3,287 people have been killed in Israeli strikes in Lebanon over the past year, with the vast majority in the past seven weeks. Another 14,222 have been wounded, mostly women and children.

In response to the ongoing aggression, the Lebanese resistance movement Hezbollah has been staging hundreds of retaliatory strikes against the occupied Palestinian territories and the Israeli forces trying to advance on southern Lebanese areas.

The movement has vowed to sustain its strikes until the regime ends the escalation.

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News Network
November 15,2024

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Iran’s Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) has killed or captured 69 terrorists linked to the Israeli spy agency Mossad during a major counterterrorism drill in the country's southeast, its spokesman says.  

General Ahmad Shafaei, the spokesman for the “Martyrs of Security” drill, said Friday that a total of 23 terrorists have been killed and another 46 arrested in various clean-up operations ever since the IRGC Ground Force launched it in the Sistan and Baluchestan province on November 1.

Seven terrorists have also turned themselves in during the period.

“The undeniable fact about terrorists is that they rely on arrogant powers, particularly the intelligence service of the wicked and vicious Zionist regime," Shafaei said.

“Unfortunately, weapons and munitions at terrorists’ disposal are among the most sophisticated ones in the world. This accounts for their heavy dependence.” 

The official stated that several members of the disbanded terror teams were non-Iranian nationals, who had been hired by foreign intelligence agencies to carry out acts of sabotage and terror inside Iran.

In a most recent operation, six terrorists were arrested and four others were eliminated, three of whom were non-Iranians, he added. 

On October 26, ten members of Iran's law enforcement forces were killed in a terrorist attack in the Gohar Kuh district of Taftan in the Sistan and Baluchestan province.

The so-called Jaish al-Adl terrorist group claimed responsibility for the assault, which was one of the deadliest in the province in recent months.

The group has carried out numerous terrorist attacks in Iran, primarily in Sistan and Baluchestan.

Its tactics include the abduction of border guards as well as targeting civilians and police stations within the province to incite chaos and disorder.

In January, Iran launched a military operation during which the headquarters of the Pakistan-based terrorist group was targeted in missile strikes, destroying its infrastructure.

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