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 14,2024

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The UN special rapporteur for Palestine has slammed Israel’s parliament for passing a law authorizing the detention of Palestinian children, who are “tormented often beyond the breaking point” in Israeli custody.

Francesca Albanese, the UN special rapporteur on the rights situation in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, in a Thursday post on X, characterized the experiences of Palestinian minors in Israeli detention as extreme and often inhumane.

The UN expert highlighted the grave impact of this policy, noting that up to 700 Palestinian minors are taken into custody each year, a practice she described as part of an unlawful occupation that views these children as potential threats.

Albanese said Palestinian minors in Israeli custody are “tormented often beyond the breaking point” and that “generations of Palestinians will carry the scars and trauma from the Israeli mass incarceration system.”

She further criticized the international community for its inaction, suggesting that ongoing diplomatic efforts, which often rely on the idea of resuming negotiations for peace, have contributed to normalizing such human rights violations against Palestinian children and the broader population.

The comments by Albanese came in response to Israel’s parliament (Knesset) passing a law on November 7 that authorizes the detention of Palestinian children under the age of 14 for “terrorism or terrorist activities.”

Under the legislation, a temporary five-year measure, once the individuals turn 14, they will be transferred to adult prison to continue serving their sentences.

Additionally, the law allows for a three-year clause that enables courts to incarcerate minors in adult prisons for up to 10 days if they are considered dangerous. Courts have the authority to extend this duration if necessary, according to the Knesset.

The legislation underscores a shift in the treatment of minors and raises alarms among human rights advocates regarding the legal and ethical ramifications of detaining children and the conditions under which they may be held.

Thousands of Palestinians, including hundreds of children and women, are currently in Israeli jails—around one-third without charge or trial. Also, an unknown number are arbitrarily held following a wave of arrests in the wake of the regime's genocidal war on Gaza.

Since the onset of the Gaza war, the Israeli regime, under the supervision of extremist minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, has turned prisons and detention centers into “death chambers,” the ministry of detainees and ex-detainees’ affairs in Gaza says.

Violence, extreme hunger, humiliation, and other forms of abuse of Palestinian prisoners have been normalized across Israel’s jail system, reports indicate.

Over 270 Palestinian minors are being detained by Israeli authorities, in violation of UN resolutions and international treaties that forbid the incarceration of children, as reported by Palestinian rights organizations.

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News Network
November 26,2024

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The extremist Israeli finance minister has called for the occupation of the Gaza Strip and halving the population of the Palestinian territory that is reeling from almost 14 months of genocide.  

Bezalel Smotrich, who has a history of racist statements against Palestinians, made the controversial remarks during a conference of the Yesha Council settler group on Monday.

“We can occupy Gaza and thin the population by half within two years,” through encouraging the so-called “voluntary emigration," he said.

The racist minister also urged the Tel Aviv regime to use its favorable ties with the incoming administration of US President-elect Donald Trump to implement the plan.

“Occupying Gaza is not a dirty word,” he further claimed.

Once the success of the “voluntary emigration" is proven in the besieged Gaza Strip, it can be replicated in the occupied West Bank, he added.

Last month, Smotrich urged the full annexation of the West Bank and Gaza, asserting that Israel should unequivocally declare there would be no Palestinian state.

Israel launched its brutal Gaza onslaught on October 7, 2023, after the Palestinian Hamas resistance group carried out a historic operation against the usurping entity in retaliation for its intensified atrocities against the Palestinian people.

However, nearly 14 months into the offensive, the Tel Aviv regime has failed to achieve its declared objectives of finding captives held in Gaza and eliminating Hamas.

So far, the occupying regime has killed at least 44,235 Palestinians, mostly women and children, and injured 104,638 others, in Gaza. 

It has been committing the war crimes of starvation and of intentionally directing attacks against the civilian population in the besieged territory.

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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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