KSA: JASTA would negatively impact all states, including US

RIYADH – The Council of Ministers on Monday emphasized that the adoption of the Justice Against Sponsors of Terrorist Act (JASTA) by the US Congress is a matter of grave concern for the international community as it would weaken the sovereign immunity and negatively impact all states including the US. Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Salman chaired the weekly session of the Cabinet at Al-Yamama Palace in Riyadh. In a statement to the Saudi Press Agency following the session, Minister of Culture and Information Adel Al-Turaifi said the Cabinet noted that equality and sovereign immunity are the principles that have been governing international relations since hundreds of years. “And hence weakening of this principle of sovereign immunity would produce negative impact on all countries, including the United States of America,” the Council said, while expressing hope that wisdom would prevail and the US Congress would take the necessary steps to avoid serious and grave consequences that may result from enacting JASTA. Al-Turaifi said the Cabinet also underscored the Kingdom’s keenness in maintaining the global oil market stability in a way serving the interests of both producers and consumers as well as the oil industry, global economy, and get it ready to contribute to any collective work in order to achieve this goal. The Council expressed its willingness to continue cooperation with the producing countries within and outside OPEC so as to benefit both the producing and exporting countries. The Cabinet slammed the attack of Houthi militias on a civilian vessel, which belonged to the United Arab Emirates, off the Yemeni port of Aden, terming it ‘a terror act that puts the international shipping route in the Bab Al-Mandab Strait into danger.’ It described the attack on the ship, carrying humanitarian aid and was evacuating wounded civilians to continue their treatment in UAE, as an act contravening the international shipping regulations and hampering regional and global efforts to deliver relief supplies to Yemen in order to alleviate the suffering of its people. Al-Turaifi said the Cabinet strongly condemned the aerial attacks on the Syrian city of Aleppo, killing hundreds of unarmed civilians, including women, children and the elderly people. The Council also denounced the explosions that took place at the mosque and conference center in the German city of Dresden. At the outset of the session, the Cabinet commended the assertion of Crown Prince Muhammad Bin Naif, deputy premier and minister of interior, during his recent meeting with President Recep Tayyip Erdogan of Turkey, of the Kingdom’s keenness to strengthen the strategic partnership with Turkey in various fields, as well as expressing its satisfaction over the identical viewpoints of the two countries on various regional and international issues. Al-Turaifi said the Cabinet was briefed on the report presented by Deputy Crown Prince Muhammad Bin Salman, second deputy premier and minister of defense, and chairman of the Council of Economic and Development Affairs, with regard to the recommendation of the committee to follow up on population growth in the Kingdom. The Cabinet entrusted the National Population Committee to analyze the Kingdom’s demographic structure and carry out studies about the imbalance in the geographical distribution of population and to address the challenges posed by the urban concentration of population. The committee shall present periodic reports about the population situation, besides updating the policy document with regard to population growth within six months and present it to the King for approval. The Council also decided to allow import of goods and products from Palestine with the state bearing the customs duty for the same.