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Saudi-Japanese Summit Tackles Regional, Int’l Affairs, Bilateral Cooperation

Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salmen recieved Japanese PM Shinzo Abe in al-Ula. (SPA)
Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salmen recieved Japanese PM Shinzo Abe in al-Ula. (SPA)
    Riyadh, al-Ula – Asharq Al-Awsat
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Saudi-Japanese Summit Tackles Regional, Int’l Affairs, Bilateral Cooperation

Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salmen recieved Japanese PM Shinzo Abe in al-Ula. (SPA)
Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salmen recieved Japanese PM Shinzo Abe in al-Ula. (SPA)

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe stressed on Sunday that any military confrontation in the region would have major repercussions on world peace, expressing his appreciation to Saudi Arabia for showing great restraint in recent months.

Abe was in Saudi Arabia on Sunday where he held talks with Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Salman bin Abdulaziz in Riyadh and Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Defense, in al-Ula.

A Japanese foreign ministry spokesman said Abe announced that Tokyo would be sending a self-defense force to the Middle East. Its role will be limited to gathering information to ensure safety of marine navigation in the region.

Speaking at a press conference in Riyadh on Sunday, he added that the PM also voiced his country’s readiness to support Saudi Arabia as it prepares to host the G20 summit later this year. Japan had hosted the 2019 summit.

Abe expressed his great appreciation for the reform efforts Crown Prince Mohammed has been exerting.

Such reforms are not only important to the Kingdom, but the region and whole world, he stressed.

Discussions between the Crown Prince and Abe focused on bilateral relations and the latest regional developments, most notably recent tensions in the Middle East.

They stressed the need to de-escalate tensions and avoid any future tensions.

Tokyo will continue to exert its efforts to defuse tension and restore stability in the Middle East, hoping that it will preserve its close relations with Riyadh, said the spokesman.

The Japanese delegation visiting the Kingdom held four ministerial meetings with Saudi officials. Discussions focused on cooperation in 69 fields. Crown Prince Mohammed and Abe voiced their commitment to maintaining cooperation between their countries. Investments between Saudi Arabia and Japan are estimated at around 30 billion dollars.

Abe had arrived in the Kingdom on Saturday as part of a five-day tour of the region. He will also visit the United Arab Emirates and Oman, where a new ruler was sworn in on Saturday following the death of modern day Oman's founding father Sultan Qaboos.

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UAE Uncovers Plan to Revive Muslim Brotherhood

The Emirati capital, Abu Dhabi (WAM)
The Emirati capital, Abu Dhabi (WAM)
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UAE Uncovers Plan to Revive Muslim Brotherhood

The Emirati capital, Abu Dhabi (WAM)
The Emirati capital, Abu Dhabi (WAM)

The United Arab Emirates uncovered plans to revive the Muslim Brotherhood within the country, according to a report published on Friday by the Emirati news agency, WAM.

“Investigations conducted by the Public Prosecution, under the supervision of the Attorney-General, have uncovered a new secret organization operating outside the country formed by fugitive members of the Reform Call Organization, which is classified as a terrorist organization within the country and was slated for dissolution in 2013,” the report said.

“The new organization aims to revive the previous group and pursue similar objectives,” it added.

The State Security Department has been monitoring fugitives from various emirates who were sentenced in absentia in 2013, the report noted.

“This surveillance revealed two groups of the organization’s members who convened abroad and recruited others to form a new organization,” it added.

Also, investigations revealed that they received funding from sources within the UAE and from other terrorist groups and organizations outside the country.

The investigations further revealed that the organization has established alliances with other terrorist groups to collaborate across media, economic, and educational sectors.

These efforts are intended to strengthen ties, secure funding, maintain the organization's presence, enhance protection mechanisms abroad, and achieve its objectives, the report said.

In one country, WAM said the group is associated with several fronts posing as charitable or intellectual organizations and television channels, the most notable being the Cordoba Foundation (TCF). Classified as a terrorist organization in the country since 2014, TCF presents itself as a Middle Eastern “think-tank” institution.

It said the group is led by Anas Altikriti, a leader of the Muslim Brotherhood residing abroad, who played a significant role in organizing demonstrations in front of UAE embassies and international organizations.

WAM revealed that the fugitive members communicated in secret meetings via internet applications and through mutual visits between the two groups.

The confessions of an arrested member of the organization detailed the group’s structure and activities, and the roles of its members in threatening stability.

These activities include leading smear campaigns, promoting hate speech, questioning the state's achievements, spreading discord among the populace, financing terrorism, engaging in money laundering, and cooperating with foreign intelligence services to destabilize state security.

They also incited actions against official institutions, targeted the UAE on human rights issues, sought to weaken confidence in the government, and stirred public opinion through fake online pages and accounts created for this purpose.

Some members engaged directly with international human rights organizations, providing false information about state authorities to be used in negative reports against the UAE, the WAM report said.

A team from the Public Prosecution is currently conducting intensive investigations to verify details from the confessions of the arrested member and from the State Security Department's findings, it added.

The Public Prosecution is expected to release details of the terrorist organization and its crimes upon the completion of the probe.