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Aboul Gheit Welcomes UN Report on Iran’s Involvement in Attacks against Saudi Arabia

Secretary General of the Arab League Ahmed Aboul Gheit attends the Arab Foreign Ministers extraordinary meeting to discuss the Syrian crisis in Cairo, Egypt December 19, 2016. Reuters/Mohamed Abd El Ghany
Secretary General of the Arab League Ahmed Aboul Gheit attends the Arab Foreign Ministers extraordinary meeting to discuss the Syrian crisis in Cairo, Egypt December 19, 2016. Reuters/Mohamed Abd El Ghany
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Aboul Gheit Welcomes UN Report on Iran’s Involvement in Attacks against Saudi Arabia

Secretary General of the Arab League Ahmed Aboul Gheit attends the Arab Foreign Ministers extraordinary meeting to discuss the Syrian crisis in Cairo, Egypt December 19, 2016. Reuters/Mohamed Abd El Ghany
Secretary General of the Arab League Ahmed Aboul Gheit attends the Arab Foreign Ministers extraordinary meeting to discuss the Syrian crisis in Cairo, Egypt December 19, 2016. Reuters/Mohamed Abd El Ghany

Secretary-General of the League of Arab States Ahmed Aboul Gheit has welcomed a recently published report by the United Nations Secretary-General, Antonio Guterres, that unequivocally proved Iran’s direct responsibility for the terrorist attacks targeting oil facilities in Saudi Arabia.

“The report adds to other evidence that the cruise missiles used in several attacks on Abha International Airport and oil facilities in Abqaiq and Khurais in 2019 were of Iranian origin,” Ahmed Aboul Gheit stressed in a statement.

He called on the international community to hold Iran accountable for those dangerous actions that undermine regional stability, noting that the report unveiled the “Iranian hostile activities” in the region and against some Arab countries, including Yemen.

According to an AL general-secretariat official source, Guterres’s report is the ninth on the implementation of Security Council resolution 2231 (2015), under which the Iranian nuclear agreement was approved. It is also concerned with following up on Iran’s regional activities and commitment to the deal.

Aboul Gheit delivered press statements to the Middle East News Agency (MENA) on the AL’s position regarding Iran’s ongoing support for the Houthi militias in Yemen.

He highlighted decisions issued by the Arab Summit to condemn and reject all Iranian interventions, not only in Yemen but also in Syria, Iraq and Lebanon.

He further noted that an Arab Quartet Ministerial Committee on Iranian Interventions has been operating in the AL framework since 2016.

Asked about the reason why the Riyadh Agreement hasn’t been implemented yet, Aboul Gheit affirmed the Kingdom’s intensive efforts in this regard, expressing hope that it would be fully implemented soon.

“It is important to focus on addressing the original conflict with the militias.”

The AL supports every effort made to preserve Yemen’s unity and integration, he affirmed, noting that both sides have confidence in the Saudi mediation.

Regarding coordination between the AL, UN and its envoy to Yemen, Aboul Gheit said there is permanent and continuous coordination, stressing that he trusts Martin Griffiths’ experience and his sincere intentions towards Yemen.

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Syria Rescuers, Activist Say Site outside Damascus Believed to Be Mass Grave

This aerial view shows a site believed to be a mass grave near Baghdad Bridge in Adra, about 35 kilometers east of Damascus, on December 25, 2024. (AFP)
This aerial view shows a site believed to be a mass grave near Baghdad Bridge in Adra, about 35 kilometers east of Damascus, on December 25, 2024. (AFP)
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Syria Rescuers, Activist Say Site outside Damascus Believed to Be Mass Grave

This aerial view shows a site believed to be a mass grave near Baghdad Bridge in Adra, about 35 kilometers east of Damascus, on December 25, 2024. (AFP)
This aerial view shows a site believed to be a mass grave near Baghdad Bridge in Adra, about 35 kilometers east of Damascus, on December 25, 2024. (AFP)

A key Syrian rescue group and an activist told AFP on Wednesday a burial site outside Damascus was likely a mass grave for detainees held under former president Bashar al-Assad and fighters killed in the civil war.

In a vast walled area located near the Baghdad Bridge, some 35 kilometers (22 miles) from the capital, AFP journalists visiting the site saw a long row of graves more than one meter deep, mostly covered with cement slabs.

Several of the slabs had been moved and inside, white bags could be seen stacked over each other with names and numbers written on them. One of the bags contained a human skull and bones.

"We think this is a mass grave -- we found an open grave with seven bags filled with bones," said Abdel Rahman Mawas from the White Helmets rescue group, which visited the site several days earlier.

He told AFP by telephone that the bags, six of which bore names, were "taken to a secure location", adding that "necessary procedures were begun for DNA testing".

He said if additional graves had been exposed it meant other people may have been searching the site, warning people to "stay away from graves and let the relevant authorities handle them".

The site, near the Adra industrial area northeast of the capital, is less than 20 kilometers from the Saydnaya prison.

Diab Serriya, from the Association of Detainees and Missing Persons of Sednaya Prison, said the site was first identified in 2019 through "testimony of an intelligence personnel member who had deserted".

Satellite imagery suggests the site was in use from 2014, he said.

"Probably this grave contains detainees but also former regime or opposition fighters killed in battle," he told AFP by telephone.

The notorious Saydnaya complex, the site of extrajudicial executions, torture and forced disappearances, epitomized the atrocities committed against Assad's opponents.

Serriya said "the bags of bones were probably brought from other graves", adding that "the road to discovering who is buried here will be long".

The doors of Syria's prisons were flung open after an opposition alliance ousted Assad this month, more than 13 years after his brutal repression of anti-government protests triggered a war that would kill more than 500,000 people.

The fate of tens of thousands of prisoners and missing people remains one of the most harrowing legacies of the conflict.

Mohammed Ali from the Adra municipal council denied residents were aware of the site, which is located near a Syrian army facility.

"It was forbidden to approach it or take photos as it was a military zone," he told AFP.