RIYADH, Jan 06 (INP): The Supreme Council praised the achievements made by King Salman Humanitarian Aid and Relief Center through its field branches in the Yemeni governorates, the development projects implemented by the Saudi Development and Reconstruction Program for Yemen in the Yemeni governorates, and the humanitarian support provided by GCC Relief and Humanitarian Aid Coordination Office.

All GCC states have provided humanitarian and development aid to Yemen, whose value has exceeded $ 13 billion since 2015, noting the GCC states’ support for the United Nations humanitarian response plan in Yemen for the year 2020, and appreciating the humanitarian and relief efforts to alleviate the suffering of the brotherly Yemeni people and achieve security and stability in Yemen.

The Supreme Council also praised the efforts of the Saudi Project for Landmine Clearance (Masam) to clear Yemeni lands of mines, which since its inception, has managed to clear more than 200,000 mines, unexploded ammunition and explosive devices that Houthi militias randomly planted in the Yemeni governorates.

The Supreme Council commended the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia's hosting, in June 2020, the Donors Conference for Yemen, in which donor countries pledged $ 1.35 billion to help humanitarian agencies operating in Yemen to continue providing basic and emergency services, including funding for COVID-19 containment programs, and the Kingdom's of Saudi Arabia's announcement providing $ 500 million to support the response plan. The Supreme Council called on donors to fulfill current pledges and consider making more contributions.

The Supreme Council welcomed the statement issued by the ministerial group that included the State of Kuwait, the United States of America, China, France, Russia, Germany, Sweden and the European Union, through which it announced its commitment to additional funding for the United Nations Humanitarian Response Plan amounting to more than $ 350 million in order to prevent famine.

The Supreme Council condemned the Iranian-backed Houthi militia blocking the arrival of the United Nations technical team to conduct inspection and maintenance of the floating oil tank (SAFER) in the Red Sea off the coast of Hodeidah, which contains more than a million barrels of crude oil, that could cause an environmental and economic disaster and a serious humanitarian impact that goes beyond Yemen in the event that the international community, represented by the Security Council, does not mount more pressure on the Iranian-backed Houthi militias to comply with the calls of the international community to allow the specialized technical team of the United Nations to access the floating oil tank (SAFER) as soon as possible to prevent an ecological disaster in the Red Sea.

The Supreme Council affirmed that the Iranian-backed Houthi militias continue to carry out hostilities and terrorist operations by launching ballistic missiles and explosive drones to target civilians and civilian objects in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, violating international and humanitarian law by using the civilian population in Yemeni civilian areas as human shields, and launching booby-trapped and remotely piloted boats, a serious threat to regional and international security.

The Supreme stressed the legitimate right of the Command of the Coalition to Restore Legitimacy in Yemen to take and implement the necessary measures to deal with these hostile and terrorist acts, and the need to prevent the smuggling of weapons to these militias, which poses a threat to the freedom of maritime navigation and global trade in Bab-el-Mandeb Strait and the Red Sea.

The Supreme Council praised the efficiency of the defense forces of the Saudi Royal Air Force in intercepting and confronting those missiles and aircraft, which amounted to more than 344 ballistic missiles and 482 drones.

The Supreme Council condemned the continued smuggling of Iranian weapons to the Houthi militia, and in this regard noted the efforts of the United States of America in seizing smuggled Iranian weapons on their way to the Iran-backed Houthi militias during February 2020, in addition to what was seized from Iranian smuggled weapons in November 2019, which match with remnants of the missiles that were used in the brutal criminal attack on the oil installations in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, according to the report of the United Nations Secretary-General on the results of the investigation of those terrorist attacks.

The Supreme Council affirmed its firm stances and decisions regarding Iraq, stressing the importance of preserving the integrity, unity of its territory, its full sovereignty, its Arab identity, its social coherence and national unity, and support for confronting terrorist groups and armed militias and strengthening state sovereignty and law enforcement.

The Supreme Council welcomed the formation of the Iraqi government headed by Mustafa Al-Kazemi, wishing the Iraqi government success to achieve the aspirations of the brotherly Iraqi people in their sovereignty, security and stability.

The Supreme Council praised the efforts made by member states to enhance cooperation with brotherly Iraq in all fields, noting the steps taken to implement the Memorandum of Understanding and the joint action plan for strategic dialogue and the development of relations between the Gulf Cooperation Council and the Republic of Iraq.

The Supreme Council renewed its support for Security Council Resolution No. 2107 (2013), which was adopted unanimously, to refer the file of prisoners, missing persons, Kuwaiti property and the national archive to the United Nations Assistance Mission for Iraq (UNAMI), to follow up on this file, and expressed its hope for continued cooperation with the Iraqi government to ensure progress in the aforementioned issues.

The Council calls on the Iraqi government and the United Nations to make every effort to reach a solution to this humanitarian issue and other related issues, especially the completion of the demarcation of the maritime borders after border sign 162.