Kingdom Confirms its Rejection of Foreign Interference in Libyan Affairs

New York, January 22, 2020, SPA -- The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia affirmed its rejection of foreign interference in the Libyan issue. This came in the Kingdom's speech during the open debate of the Security Council on the situation in the Middle East and the Palestinian issue. The speech was delivered by the Permanent Representative of the Kingdom to the United Nations, Ambassador Abdullah bin Yahya Al-Muallami during the debate which was held today. Ambassador Abdullah bin Yahya Al-Muallami said that foreign interference in the Libyan issue led to the movement of extremist fighters to Libya and the violation of the relevant Security Council resolutions, the intensification of the military escalation, the prolongation of the conflict and the deepening of suffering of the brotherly Libyan people. The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia reaffirmed its position of supporting the Libyan people and respecting their will, and standing at an equal distance from all Libyan parties, calling on all parties to exercise self-restraint and give priority to the supreme interest, and to preserve the territorial integrity and protect it from external interference, as well as support the United Nations efforts aiming to stop the conflict and resolve the crisis through dialogue and diplomatic solutions. Al-Muallami thanked the Council for convening this session to discuss the situation in the Middle East, pointing out that what distinguishes this situation at the present time is the continued occupation of the Israeli authorities to work on imposing the fait accompli as Israel announced its intention to build a large group of settlements and its desire to annex large parts of the occupied Palestinian territories in the West Bank, which led to the closure of the doors of the settlement, and even increased Israel's intransigence and daring to violate the relevant international covenants and laws to end this conflict, which is the main cause of the crises in the region. The Ambassador indicated that Israel is still enacting legislation and taking anti-Palestinian policies to legalize its settlement system, and deprive the Palestinian people of their rights, once again, stressing the Kingdom's call to the international community to compel Israel to implement the relevant international resolutions, otherwise the region will continue to suffer from the danger of the continuation of this protracted conflict. He said, "The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia confirms its firm position, which is that the Palestinian issue is the first pivotal issue of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and will continue to defend it and the rights of the Palestinian people until they obtain their inalienable rights and establishes their independent state on June 4, 1967, with Jerusalem as its capital in accordance with binding Security Council resolutions and the Arab Peace Initiative, as well as ending the occupation by Israel of the Syrian Arab Golan and Lebanese territories. Ambassador Abdullah bin Yahya Al-Muallami affirmed the kingdom’s categorical rejection of the statements that consider the settlements in the West Bank as legitimate and not in violation of international law, pointing out that Israel’s construction of settlements is in violation of the decisions of international legitimacy and international law, and stands as an obstacle to achieving peace and stability in the Middle East region and the two-state solution. The Permanent Representative of the Kingdom to the United Nations expressed the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia's condemnation of the recent escalation by the Syrian authorities in their attacks on civilians in Idlib, calling for calm and work to complete the dialogue through the Constitutional Committee, whose creation represented a glimmer of hope for the Syrian people in order to get out of their protracted crisis. He added, "The past years have proven beyond reasonable doubt the invalidity of the hypothesis of a military solution at the expense of the people and their will, and the need to save Syria through dialogue and political solution and not through external interventions, and we call for the exit of all foreign armed militias from the Syrian territories in order to preserve the territorial integrity Syrian security and stability. " The Ambassador pointed out that the kingdom has been and still is calling for the utmost restraint, calm and dialogue regarding the various conflicts, and stresses that the current tension in the region can only be solved through dialogue, and that the recent attacks in brotherly Iraq and Iran's continued violation of Iraqi sovereignty constitutes a dangerous escalation that may lead to unimaginable consequences. He expressed the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia's condemnation of these attacks and its condemnation of Iran's violations of Iraqi sovereignty, reiterating the call for the need for restraint by all parties and keenness not to escalate to maintain security and stability in brotherly Iraq and the Gulf region, stressing that the international community must fulfill its responsibilities to take the necessary measures to ensure security in this vital region for the whole world and its stability, and deterring the provocations and sabotage operations carried out by Iran in this region. He stated that the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia has exercised the utmost calm and restraint regarding the terrorist attack that afflicted the Saudi Aramco oil facilities in Abqaiq and Khurais on September 14 of last year. This attack was adopted by the Houthi militias and international investigations and UN reports have proven that it did not come from the Yemeni territories, but it came from the north, he said. He pointed out that Yemen has recently witnessed successive efforts at the regional and international levels to reduce escalation and push confidence-building factors, which led to an improvement in the military, political and humanitarian situation during the last period. The Riyadh agreement between the Yemeni government and the Southern Transitional Council, which aims to achieve security and peace and restore the wheel of development in Yemen, entered its second stage. He added, "But unfortunately we are still witnessing the continuation of the Iranian-backed Houthi militia in its practices that contradict international legitimacy resolutions, especially Security Council Resolution 2216, and the last of these practices was the terrorist attack carried out by the Houthi militia on a mosque in Ma'rib Governorate, and dozens of people were killed and injured, and we condemn this terrorist attack, which took into account nothing but the targeting of places of worship and the bloodshed of Yemenis. We reaffirm the kingdom and coalition States support for Yemen, and we consider these heinous terrorist acts to deliberately undermine the path of a political solution, he said. At the end of the speech, Ambassador Abdullah bin Yahya Al-Muallami called on the international community, especially the esteemed Security Council, to activate its main role by maintaining international peace and security and firm calling to practice reducing escalation and tension in the region before it leads to international disasters and ensuring that calm and dialogue and exercising the utmost levels of self-control are the main solution to activating the role of preventive diplomacy to repel conflict. --SPA