Security Council Stresses Support for UN Chief after Israel Slight

FILE PHOTO: United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres speaks during a Security Council meeting during the 79th United Nations General Assembly at UN headquarters in New York, US, September 27, 2024.  REUTERS/Eduardo Munoz/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres speaks during a Security Council meeting during the 79th United Nations General Assembly at UN headquarters in New York, US, September 27, 2024. REUTERS/Eduardo Munoz/File Photo
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Security Council Stresses Support for UN Chief after Israel Slight

FILE PHOTO: United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres speaks during a Security Council meeting during the 79th United Nations General Assembly at UN headquarters in New York, US, September 27, 2024.  REUTERS/Eduardo Munoz/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres speaks during a Security Council meeting during the 79th United Nations General Assembly at UN headquarters in New York, US, September 27, 2024. REUTERS/Eduardo Munoz/File Photo

The UN Security Council has affirmed its full support for Secretary-General Antonio Guterres after Israel banned the UN chief from entering the country.

In several messages Thursday almost certainly aimed at Israel, the 15-member council “underscored that any decision not to engage with the UN secretary-general or the United Nations is counterproductive, especially in the context of escalating tensions in the Middle East.”

The UN's most powerful body also “underscored the need for all member states to have a productive and effective relationship with the secretary-general and to refrain from any actions that undermine his work and that of his office.”

Switzerland’s UN Ambassador Pascale Baeriswyl, the current council president, read the statement to reporters late Thursday.

Israel’s Foreign Minister Israel Katz announced Wednesday that Guterres is “persona non grata” — not welcome — in the country, accusing the secretary-general of being biased against Israel.



German Christmas Market Attacker Asked about Whereabouts of Saudi Ambassador

People mourn at the mourning site in front of St. John's Church following a vehicle-ramming attack on the Christmas market in Magdeburg, Germany, 22 December 2024.  EPA/FILIP SINGER
People mourn at the mourning site in front of St. John's Church following a vehicle-ramming attack on the Christmas market in Magdeburg, Germany, 22 December 2024. EPA/FILIP SINGER
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German Christmas Market Attacker Asked about Whereabouts of Saudi Ambassador

People mourn at the mourning site in front of St. John's Church following a vehicle-ramming attack on the Christmas market in Magdeburg, Germany, 22 December 2024.  EPA/FILIP SINGER
People mourn at the mourning site in front of St. John's Church following a vehicle-ramming attack on the Christmas market in Magdeburg, Germany, 22 December 2024. EPA/FILIP SINGER

The perpetrator who drove a car at speed through a Christmas market in the city of Magdeburg, Germany, has reportedly offered a reward in return for information about the whereabouts of the Saudi ambassador to Germany, a source told Independent Arabia on Sunday.
The source said that the attacker, Taleb al-Abd al-Mohsen, had offered a SAR 10,000 (equivalent to 2662 euros) in reward for anyone who provides information pertaining to the residence of the Saudi ambassador to Germany, and the timing of his presence.
The Saudi embassy had informed the German authorities about the threat, said the source but the latter “did not take the matter seriously”, he stated.
On Friday, Taleb al-Abd al-Mohsen drove a car at speed through a Christmas market in Germany, killing four women ranging in age from 45 to 75, as well as a 9-year-old boy and injuring 200, including 41 in serious condition.
The police apprehended the perpetrator at the scene of the attack. He is a doctor who had fled Saudi Arabia, where he was wanted on criminal charges. He had been residing in Germany for two decades.
Saudi Arabia condemned the ramming attack and expressed solidarity with the people of Germany.
A Saudi source told Reuters that Saudi Arabia had warned the German authorities about the suspect who appears to have been an active user of the social media platform X, sharing extremist tweets and retweets daily.
In 2023 and 2024, Germany received warnings about the man from Saudi authorities, a German source affirmed.