LOC20:34
17:34 GMT
NEW YORK, Sept 23 (KUNA) -- Saudi Foreign Minister Adel Al-Jubeir on Saturday condemned the Myanmar government's repression and forced deportation of the Rohingya Muslim minority.
Such action by the government authorities in Myanmar requires urgent reaction on the side of the international community to protect the Rohingyas, Al-Jubeir said in a speech at the 72nd Session of the UN General Assembly (UNGA 72) in New York.
He said Saudi Arabia provided USD 15 million to help meet the needs of the Rohingya refugees who fled to neighboring countries fearing repression.
The international community had already voiced concern over the plight of the Rohingyas and called upon the government of Myanmar to stop the assault against the Muslim minority, and to allow them return home.
Al-Jubeir, meanwhile, expressed firm rejection to all forms of terrorism and extremism.
Saudi Arabia, he said, has been fighting terrorism at the security, financial and ideological fronts.
He added that the Kingdom hosted an Arab-Islamic-American summit last May, which called for doubling efforts to address terrorism funding.
The Saudi Foreign Minister also called for an end of the Israeli illegal and illegitimate occupation of the Palestinian territories.
He said that a solution to the Arab-Israeli conflict should be based on the relevant UN resolutions and the Arab Peace Initiative, with the objective of establishing an independent Palestinian state on the pre-1967 borders with East Jerusalem as capital.
On Yemen, Al-Jubeir said Saudi Arabia supported efforts of UN envoy Ismail Ould Sheikh Ahmad to reach a political resolution based on UN resolution 2216, the GCC Initiative and its Implementing Mechanism, as well as outcome of the Yemeni National Dialogue.
He noted that Riyadh had offered more than USD 8 billion in humanitarian, medical and development assistance to the Yemeni people, who suffered from the coup launched by the Iranian-backed Houthis and former President Ali Abdullah Saleh's forces.
On Iran, Al-Jubeir lashed out at the Islamic Republic as "sponsoring terrorism, and forming armed terrorist groups" to undermine security in the region. (end)
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