Saudi Arabia Reiterates Call for Restraint in Sudan

King Salman chairs a cabinet meeting in Neom on Tuesday. (SPA)
King Salman chairs a cabinet meeting in Neom on Tuesday. (SPA)
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Saudi Arabia Reiterates Call for Restraint in Sudan

King Salman chairs a cabinet meeting in Neom on Tuesday. (SPA)
King Salman chairs a cabinet meeting in Neom on Tuesday. (SPA)

The Saudi government reiterated on Tuesday the Kingdom’s call on all parties in Sudan to exercise restraint and show calm in wake of the military in the country.

Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Salman bin Abdulaziz chaired the cabinet meeting that was held virtually from Neom.

The cabinet urged Sudanese parties against escalation and to preserve the political and economic gains of their revolution.

Saudi Arabia will continue to stand by the brotherly Sudanese people and support everything that achieves security, stability and prosperity in their country.

The cabinet also hailed the United Nations Security Council for condemning the attacks by the Iran-backed Houthi militias in Yemen against Saudi territories and civilian installations.

The council statement, it said, was an important message of support to efforts aimed at ending the conflict in Yemen and reaching a comprehensive political solution.

The ministers underscored the Kingdom’s firm and constant stance in supporting the Palestinian cause and reaching a fair solution to the Palestinian-Israeli conflict that secures the Palestinian people’s rights. They reiterated Riyadh’s statements before the United Nations Economic and Financial Committee that called for forcing Israeli authorities to comply with international resolutions and laws and end their occupation of all occupied Arab territories.

King Salman briefed the ministers on the message he had received last week from King of Bahrain Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa and the one he sent to South Sudan’s President Salva Kiir. He also briefed them on the telephone talks he held with UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres.

The cabinet hailed the success of the Saudi Green Forum and Middle East Green Initiative Summit. They praised the events for presenting several initiatives aimed at protecting the environment and confronting and limiting the impact of climate change.



Qatari Mission Searches for Bodies of Americans Killed by ISIS in Syria

A photograph of US journalist James Foley taken on November 5, 2012, in the northern Syrian city of Aleppo. (AFP)
A photograph of US journalist James Foley taken on November 5, 2012, in the northern Syrian city of Aleppo. (AFP)
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Qatari Mission Searches for Bodies of Americans Killed by ISIS in Syria

A photograph of US journalist James Foley taken on November 5, 2012, in the northern Syrian city of Aleppo. (AFP)
A photograph of US journalist James Foley taken on November 5, 2012, in the northern Syrian city of Aleppo. (AFP)

A Qatari mission has begun searching for the remains of US hostages killed by ISIS in Syria a decade ago, two sources briefed on the mission told Reuters, reviving a longstanding effort to recover their bodies.

ISIS, which controlled swathes of Syria and Iraq at the peak of its power from 2014-2017, beheaded numerous people in captivity, including Western hostages, and released videos of the killings.

Qatar's international search and rescue group began the search on Wednesday, accompanied by several Americans, the sources said. The group, deployed by Doha to earthquake zones in Morocco and Türkiye in recent years, had so far found the remains of three bodies, the sources said.

One of the sources - a Syrian security source - said the remains had yet to be identified. The second source said it was unclear how long the mission would last.

The US State Department had no immediate comment.

The Qatari mission gets under way as US President Donald Trump prepares to visit Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Qatar next week and as Syria's new rulers seek relief from US sanctions.

The Syrian source said the mission's initial focus was on looking for the body of aid worker Peter Kassig, who was beheaded by ISIS in 2014 in Dabiq in northern Syria. The second source said Kassig's remains were among those they hoped to find.

US journalists James Foley and Steven Sotloff were among other Western hostages killed by ISIS. Their deaths were confirmed in 2014.

US aid worker Kayla Mueller was also killed in ISIS captivity. Her death was confirmed in 2015.

"We’re grateful for anyone taking on this task and risking their lives in some circumstances to try and find the bodies of Jim and the other hostages," said Diane Foley, James Foley's mother. "We thank all those involved in this effort."

Two ISIS members, both former British citizens who were part of a cell that beheaded American hostages, are serving life prison sentences in the United States.