Saudi Gazette report

BRUSSELS - Minister of Foreign Affairs Adel Al-Jubeir announced that the Kingdom will provide $100 million through the King Salman Humanitarian Aid and Relief Centre (KSRelief) to alleviate the suffering of the Syrian people.

He made the pledge during the international conference to support the future of Syria and the region, the Saudi Press Agency reported.

Al-Jubeir noted that convening of this international meeting comes in the wake of the terrible crime that took place in the city of Douma in the Eastern Ghouta in Syria, which claimed the lives of civilians and innocent women and children.

“The world is facing a regime allied with terrorist militias who believe that spreading atrocities and committing crimes will bring victory and that war crimes are bearing fruit. In addition to bombing civilians, the policies of starvation and siege, ethnic and sectarian cleansing and the demographic change of Syrian cities and towns, and the use of chemical weapons have shocked the entire world,” he said.

The minister said that the only solution to the Syrian crisis is political and that Saudi Arabia has sought to find peaceful solution to the crisis since its inception and worked with brothers and friends to avoid the human tragedy.

Al-Jubeir affirmed the Kingdoms’ support for the efforts of the UN envoy Stephan de Mistura to resume the negotiation process between the Syrian parties in Geneva to find solutions based on the Geneva Declaration and related international resolutions.

He said containing the repercussions of the crimes of the Syrian regime including the worsening humanitarian situation of internally displaced persons and refugees inside and outside Syria can be achieved through a political solution and the resumption of the negotiation process as soon as possible.

Al-Jubeir pointed out that since the outbreak of the crisis in Syria, the Kingdom has received some 2.5 million Syrian citizens, and has treated them like its citizens, giving them free health care, education and allowed them to work.

The Kingdom's universities and schools have more than 140,000 students and the efforts of the Kingdom also included the support and care of millions of Syrian refugees in neighboring countries.

The Kingdom has so far provided humanitarian assistance worth about $1 billion to Syria and neighboring countries, he added.