Mohammed bin Mahmoud Al-Ali, ambassador of Saudi Arabia to Tunisia, emphasized the main axes of the 30th Tunis Arab summit of March 31 which concern “unifying the Arab position, improving the Arab League’s performance and developing the joint Arab action system in line with the latest political, social and economic developments in the Arab region.”
“The Palestinian people will have their legitimate rights to establish their independent state with Al-Quds Al-Sharif as its capital,” Al-Ali said in Tunisian News Press Agency TAP.
The ambassador affirmed that Saudi King Salman bin Abdul Aziz will head a high-level delegation of senior state officials in Tunis to participate in the 30th session of the Arab summit scheduled late this week.
Tunisia will take over the presidency of the Arab summit from Saudi Arabia, which hosted in 2018 the 29th session of the summit.
Terrorism, Palestine, Libya, Syria and Yemen are expected to be on the agenda of the Tunis summit.
Asked about the “return of Syria” to the League of Arab States, the Saudi ambassador said that it depends on progress in the political process and the end of the war and the return of security and stability to Syria. He said that the reopening of his country’s embassy in Damascus “is linked to the development of the political process in Syria,” pointing out that “no change in the position of Riyadh in this regard.”
Regarding the war in Yemen, Mohammed bin Mahmoud al-Ali said “the Kingdom’s commitment to reach a political solution in Yemen that guarantees its security, stability and territorial integrity” and its “keenness” to implement the Stockholm agreement reached between the delegation of the legitimate government of the Republic of Yemen and the Houthi delegation “.
Mohammed bin Mahmoud Al-Ali stressed the importance of the contribution of the Council of Arab Interior Ministers (based in Tunis) to “promote the concept of joint Arab action through its efforts and activities in protecting the security and stability of our Arab countries.”
Saudi Arabia recently assumed the presidency of the 36th session of the Council of Arab Interior Ministers, one of the institutions of joint Arab action.
According to the Saudi ambassador, “the most important priorities to be addressed by the Council during the coming period will be to reduce the Iranian interference that threatens our countries and our societies, Organized crime, border security, drug control, human rights issues and Siberian security “.
The ambassador added that Saudi Arabia has adopted a “strategy” to combat terrorism based on “refuting extremist rhetoric and combating its activities and reducing its effects.” He said that his country has established and co-founded several counterterrorism centers such as the Islamic Coalition Against Terrorism, which includes Islamic countries.
On the relations between Tunisia and Saudi Arabia, the ambassador said that one of the most important projects financed by his country is establishing and equipping King Salman University Hospital in Kairouan with a value of 85 million dollars.
In terms of trade exchange, Al-Ali stressed that the volume of exports between the two countries amounted to about 222 million dollars at the end of 2017.
The volume of imports amounted to about 44 million dollars, according to the ambassador, who said that more than 30,000 Tunisians reside in Saudi Arabia.
TunisianMonitorOnline
