February 2019
The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia announced on Tuesday that it is contributing USD $500 million in new funding for the UN-approved Yemen Humanitarian Response Plan (YHRP) for 2019. This donation increases the support provided by the Kingdom to help the Yemeni people to more than USD $14 billion since the start of 2014.
The spokesmen of the Coalition to restore legitimacy in Yemen colonel Turki Al Malki denied on Monday reports of providing US weapons to the Iran backed Houthi milita and AQAP in Yemen, adding that Saudi Arabia has contributed more than $13 billion in support of Yemen since 2014. Colonel Al Maliki confirmed that the Coalition is working with the United Nations and international agencies to support the Yemeni people, stressing that the Coalition’s efforts continue against both Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) and the Iran backed Houthi rebels.
Saudi Arabia notes with regret the European Commission proposed revised list of "high risk" countries on money laundering and the financing of terrorism released on the 13th of February, 2019 that includes Saudi Arabia despite several measures of reinforcement of its legal framework which has led to increased cooperation with its counterparts. The Kingdom reaffirms that it is strongly committed to the common fight against money laundering and terrorism financing, a commitment that it shares with its international partners and allies.
The Coalition to restore legitimacy in Yemen has viewed with concern media reports alleging the transfer of US military weapons to the Iranian backed Houthi militia and AQAP in Yemen. Coalition spokesman Colonel Turki Al-Malki strongly denied those claims, and stressed the Coalition countries’ commitment to confront and defeat the illegal Houthi takeover of Yemen, in addition to decisively confronting other terrorist groups, such as ISIS And AQAP, rendering the idea of supplying weapons to these groups illogical.
On February 6th 2019, His Excellency Minister of State for Foreign Affairs and Cabinet Member Mr. Adel Al-Jubeir led the Saudi delegation to the Ministerial Meeting of the Global Coalition to Defeat ISIS, and the Ministerial Meeting of the Small Group on Syria, where he reaffirmed the Kingdom's commitment to the objectives of the Global Coalition to Defeat ISIS, and stressed the importance o continued cooperation and coordination among all member states to combat terrorism and extremism.
The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, represented by the King Abdul-Aziz City for Science and Technology (KACST), announced today that the first Saudi satellite for communications (SGS-1) launched successfully from the Guiana Space Centre on an Ariane 5 rocket. HRH Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman had signed the final piece to be placed on the Saudi satellite before its launch with the words “above the clouds.”, in reference to a popular Saudi national song.