Saudi Foreign Minister warns of Afghanistan’s worsening crisis
Saudi Prince Faisal bin Farhan bin Abdullah, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Saudi Arabia, urged countries of the world and various international organizations to actively participate and meet the urgent humanitarian needs and sustainable aid for Afghanistan and its people, to prevent the collapse of Afghan economic institutions.
Prince Faisal bin Farhan attended the extraordinary meeting of the Council of Foreign Ministers of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation on the humanitarian situation in Afghanistan, which was called by the Kingdom as the head of the current Islamic Summit, and hosted by Pakistan: Chairman of the 14th Islamic Summit.
He said that he initiated the request to hold this urgent extraordinary meeting in a necessary response to the serious humanitarian crisis facing the Afghan people, which is exacerbated by the onset of winter, and the need of millions of Afghans, including the elderly, women, and children, for urgent humanitarian assistance that includes food, medicine, and shelter.
He added, “The kingdom is aware that the economic collapse and the deterioration of the living conditions of the Afghan people will not only be a human tragedy but will lead to more instability and will lead to dire consequences for regional and international peace and stability.”
He refers to the move under the umbrella of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation, the second-largest international organization, which represents more than a third of the world’s population affirms the fundamental role of joint collective action to confront the regional and international challenges that Islamic countries are going through, and to strengthen coordination and cooperation with the international community to establish security and peace and achieve the aspirations of the Islamic people.
The Saudi foreign minister stressed that “this meeting renews solidarity with the brotherly Afghan people, and sends a clear message to the international community about the importance of urgent action to take the necessary means and steps to stop the deterioration of humanitarian and living conditions in Afghanistan,”.
He noted that the Kingdom has supported a large number of humanitarian projects over the past decades, the health, educational and nutritional benefits of which the Afghan people benefited, at a cost of more than one billion Saudi riyals.
The Kingdom recently, under the directives of the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques, operated air and a land bridge to Afghanistan carrying urgent relief, humanitarian, and food aid, through the King Salman Center for Relief and Humanitarian Action, based on the Kingdom’s duty Humanitarian and Islamic towards the brotherly Afghan people.
He added: “Unity and harmony among the Afghan people is the only way to achieve security and stability, preserve Afghanistan’s sovereignty and territorial integrity, and confront foreign interference in it.”
The Saudi Foreign Minister expressed the Kingdom’s condemnation of the terrorist attacks launched by the terrorist organization ISIS in Afghanistan, which aim to spread fear and inflame sectarianism among the components of the Afghan people, stressing that maintaining peace, security, and stability in Afghanistan is a priority that requires constructive contributions and intense collective action by the international community.
