Sat 30 July 2022:
Saudi Arabia has reaffirmed that, despite its decision to open its airspace to all foreign aircraft, including those from Israel, it will not budge from its firm stance on the Palestinian issue, Anadolu Agency reported.
This was stated by Mohamed al-Atiq, the acting charge d’affaires of the Saudi Arabia’s permanent delegation to the UN, during a Security Council session on Palestine, the official Saudi Press Agency reported on Thursday evening.
“Saudi Arabia confirmed that its firm and constant stance toward the Palestinian cause and the Palestinian people will not change by allowing international flights to cross the kingdom’s airspace,” he said.
The official stressed that “the decision to allow the use of airspace for all airlines is linked to international obligations, and this step does not mean that it is a prelude to other steps.”
In mid-July, US President Joe Biden landed in Jeddah after flying directly from Tel Aviv, Israel’s capital.
Just before Biden’s arrival, Saudi Arabia’s civil aviation body announced the opening of its airspace to all air carriers that meet the authority’s requirements to access its airspace.
Since the declaration did not exclude Israeli carriers, it effectively lifted restrictions on flights to and from Israel, which was welcomed by Tel Aviv.
Following the decision, Saudi Foreign Minister Faisal bin Farhan affirmed that “this does not mean diplomatic relations with Israel, nor does it mean any other steps.”
Saudi Arabia has no diplomatic relations with Israel and has stated repeatedly that it will not normalize relations with Tel Aviv until the Palestinian issue is resolved.
SOURCE: INDEPENDENT PRESS AND NEWS AGENCIES
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
FOLLOW INDEPENDENT PRESS:
TWITTER (CLICK HERE)
https://twitter.com/IpIndependent
FACEBOOK (CLICK HERE)
https://web.facebook.com/ipindependent
Think your friends would be interested? Share this story!
