Saudi Arabia Consolidates Fight against Corruption with New Measures

Saudi Arabia Consolidates Fight against Corruption with New Measures
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Saudi Arabia Consolidates Fight against Corruption with New Measures

Saudi Arabia Consolidates Fight against Corruption with New Measures

Saudi Arabia’s Umm al-Qura newspaper revealed on Friday the details of the regulations approved by cabinet on July 23 related to the Control and Anti-Corruption Authority’s jurisdiction in investigating illegal enrichment.

The new regulations will go into effect 90 days after their official publication.

The regulations define corruption crimes as bribery, abuse of authority and public funds and any related crimes.

The Authority enjoys financial and administrative independence. It works objectively away from the influence of any party.

It is charged with monitoring public agencies, protecting integrity, bolstering transparency and combating corruption.

The Authority is tasked with uncovering administrative violations and crimes of corruption. It receives complaints related to these crimes and investigates their validity. It can also launch investigations and file lawsuits before relevant courts.

It also follows up on the return of illegally acquired funds and the revenues generated from them.

The Authority has the power to review work methods and procedures to protect integrity and bolster transparency. It can specify points of weakness that could lead to violations and crimes of corruption and propose means to develop and modernize procedures and mechanisms to fortify against the crimes.

The Authority has the power to demand records, documents, information and data from concerned parties to probe corruption claims.



Qatar PM Hopes Palestinian Authority Will Return to Gaza When War Ends

Qatar’s Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al Thani speaks during the World Economic Forum (WEF) annual meeting in Davos on January 21, 2025. (AFP)
Qatar’s Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al Thani speaks during the World Economic Forum (WEF) annual meeting in Davos on January 21, 2025. (AFP)
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Qatar PM Hopes Palestinian Authority Will Return to Gaza When War Ends

Qatar’s Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al Thani speaks during the World Economic Forum (WEF) annual meeting in Davos on January 21, 2025. (AFP)
Qatar’s Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al Thani speaks during the World Economic Forum (WEF) annual meeting in Davos on January 21, 2025. (AFP)

Qatar's Prime Minister said in Davos on Tuesday he hoped the Palestinian Authority would return to play a governing role in Gaza once the war with Israel comes to an end.

Speaking at the World Economic Forum's annual meeting in Switzerland, two days after the ceasefire Qatar helped broker came into effect in Gaza, Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al Thani cautioned that Gazans -- and not any other country -- should dictate the way the enclave will be governed.

"We hope to see the PA back in Gaza. We hope to see a government that will really address the issues of the people over there. And there is a long way to go with Gaza and the destruction," he said.

How Gaza will be governed after the war was not directly addressed in the deal between Israel and Hamas movement that led to an immediate ceasefire and hostage releases after nearly 15 months of talks mediated by Qatar, Egypt and the US.

Israel has rejected any governing role for Hamas, which ran Gaza before the war, but it has been almost equally opposed to rule by the Palestinian Authority, the body set up under the Oslo interim peace accords three decades ago that has limited governing power in the West Bank.

The PA, dominated by the Fatah faction created by former Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat, faces opposition from rival faction Hamas, which drove the PA out of Gaza in 2007 after a brief war.