Muhammad due to meet Ban

UNITED NATIONS — Deputy Crown Prince Muhammad Bin Salman, second deputy premier and minister of defense, is due to meet UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon on Wednesday, the Kingdom’s ambassador to UN said. Prince Muhammad will be in New York next week for meetings with business leaders after a visit to the US West Coast, UN officials said. Saudi UN Ambassador Abdallah Al-Mouallimi said that the meeting had been confirmed for Wednesday. President Barack Obama and the deputy crown prince met on Friday and discussed ways to support Iraqis in their fight against Daesh militants and the importance of a political transition in war-torn Syria, the White House said. “The President expressed appreciation for Saudi Arabia’s contributions to the campaign against ISIL (Daesh),” the White House said. Obama welcomed Saudi Arabia’s commitment to a political settlement of the Yemen conflict and support by the Gulf Cooperation Council to address humanitarian needs and rebuild the country, the White House said. On Syria, Obama and the prince talked about the importance of supporting a political transition away from President Bashar Al-Assad. Saudi Arabia’s Foreign Minister Adel Al-Jubeir told reporters the Kingdom had been arguing for a “more robust intervention” including air strikes, a no-fly zone, and a no-drive zone, from the beginning of the five-year civil war. Jubeir said his country works hard to minimize civilian casualties in Yemen and uphold international humanitarian law. “The air sorties that the Kingdom and the coalition fly are recorded — both video and voice. We conduct after-damage assessments afterward,” he said. “We are confident that we have taken all necessary measures to minimize collateral damage or damage to civilians.” “We do not target civilians. We are very careful about what targets we take out,” he said.