Saudi FM Announces Launch of Work of Committee Tasked with Mobilizing Int’l Action to Stop War on Gaza

Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan bin Abdullah speaks during a press conference during the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) summit to discuss Gaza crisis, in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, November 11, 2023. (Reuters)
Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan bin Abdullah speaks during a press conference during the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) summit to discuss Gaza crisis, in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, November 11, 2023. (Reuters)
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Saudi FM Announces Launch of Work of Committee Tasked with Mobilizing Int’l Action to Stop War on Gaza

Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan bin Abdullah speaks during a press conference during the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) summit to discuss Gaza crisis, in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, November 11, 2023. (Reuters)
Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan bin Abdullah speaks during a press conference during the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) summit to discuss Gaza crisis, in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, November 11, 2023. (Reuters)

Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan bin Abdullah announced on Saturday the launch of the work of the ministerial committee tasked with mobilizing international action to end the war on Gaza.

The committee will kick off its work from China.

The committee was formed at the Arab-Islamic summit that was held in Riyadh last week and that focused on the conflict in Gaza.

Officials at the summit decided to exert pressure to kick off a serious political process that would lead to lasting and comprehensive peace in the Palestinian territories in line with relevant international resolutions.

The foreign minister of Saudi Arabia and his counterparts in several countries, as well as the secretary-generals of the Arab League and Organization of Islamic Cooperation, were tasked with leading the efforts of the committee.

Earlier on Saturday, Prince Faisal met with High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Josep Borrell on the sidelines of the Manama Dialogue 2023 held in Bahrain.

The officials discussed the developments in Gaza with Prince Faisal reiterating the Kingdom's rejection of the continued military escalation and violations committed by Israeli forces against civilians, stressing the importance of stopping the escalation and forced displacement of Palestinians from Gaza Strip.

Prince Faisal stressed the importance of securing urgent humanitarian corridors for sending relief assistance to children, women and civilians in Gaza, and called on the international community to take a stance against all flagrant violations of international humanitarian law practiced by the Israeli forces against civilians in Gaza.



Taiwan’s Representative to Saudi Arabia: 260,000 Pagers Exported in Two Years

Taiwan’s representative to Saudi Arabia Samee Chang. (Asharq Al-Awsat)
Taiwan’s representative to Saudi Arabia Samee Chang. (Asharq Al-Awsat)
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Taiwan’s Representative to Saudi Arabia: 260,000 Pagers Exported in Two Years

Taiwan’s representative to Saudi Arabia Samee Chang. (Asharq Al-Awsat)
Taiwan’s representative to Saudi Arabia Samee Chang. (Asharq Al-Awsat)

Taiwan is investigating who is responsible for modifying the pagers that were turned into explosives in the hands of the Lebanese people, including members of Hezbollah.

Taiwan’s representative to Saudi Arabia Samee Chang told Asharq Al-Awsat that 260,000 pagers were exported from his country between 2022 and 2024, and 16 percent of them were sent to the United States and Europe.

He expressed his regret that the pagers were planted with explosives that were used in the attack in Lebanon last month, clarifying that the devices were not directly exported from Taiwan to Lebanon.

He explained that the components of the device are made of material that is not liable to explode.

Apollo Gold, the Taiwanese company that exported the pagers between 2022 and 2024, has never received any complaints that its devices have caused harm or exploded.

The attack in Lebanon has raised several questions and they are being probed by authorities in Taiwan, he went on to say.

One thing is for certain, the devices were not harmful in the shape they were exported from the country, stressed Chang.

Asked about whether the attack may harm Taiwan’s economy, he replied that his country’s industry sector has a strong reputation that will be difficult to undermine given the trust it has from clients.

The size of the sector and Taiwan’s investments cannot be measured by a small number of pagers, as they only make up a mere fraction in the country’s trade relations with countries all over the world, he stressed.

Separately, Chang revealed that Taiwan was considering cooperation with Saudi Arabia in the chip industry, saying he was optimistic over the broad potential for cooperation in the technology sector.

There are no limits to the cooperation between them, he added.

Taiwan constantly wants to maintain the relations and discuss opportunities for joint investments, he stated.

Taiwan was among the first countries to leap to cooperate with Saudi Arabia in all fields to help the Kingdom achieve its Vision 2030 that is spearheaded by Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Salman bin Abdulaziz and Prince Mohammed bin Salman, Crown Prince and Prime Minister, Chang said.