On Behalf of the Foreign Minister, the Vice Foreign Minister Participates in Extraordinary Meeting of OIC Foreign Ministers on the Situation in Somalia

On behalf of Minister of Foreign Affairs Prince Faisal bin Farhan bin Abdullah, Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs Waleed Elkhereiji participated today in the extraordinary meeting of the Foreign Ministers of the Member States of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) on the situation in Somalia, held at the OIC headquarters in Jeddah.

 During his address, the vice minister reiterated the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia's full support for the sovereignty, unity, and territorial integrity of the Federal Republic of Somalia. He expressed the Kingdom's categorical rejection of the declaration of mutual recognition between the Israeli occupation authorities and the Somaliland region, considering it a consecration of unilateral separatist measures that violate international law, the Charter of the United Nations, and the Charter of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation.

 The vice minister affirmed the Kingdom's categorical rejection of any attempts to impose parallel entities that contradict the unity and territorial integrity of Somalia, its rejection of any division or diminution of its sovereignty, its support for the legitimate institutions of the Somali state, and its commitment to preserving the stability of Somalia and its brotherly people.

 Elkhereiji called on the organization and its member states to adopt a firm, collective Islamic stance rejecting any recognition of or dealings with separatist entities in Somalia. He also called for holding the Israeli entity fully responsible for any political or security repercussions resulting from such actions. Furthermore, the vice minister urged coordinated action in international forums to affirm the unity of Somalia and prevent the creation of such dangerous precedents that threaten member states, rejecting any action or cooperation stemming from this mutual recognition.

 The vice minister reiterated the Kingdom's emphasis on the centrality of the Palestinian cause and its support for all efforts aimed at achieving a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip, ultimately enabling the brotherly Palestinian people to exercise their right to self-determination and establish their independent state within the 1967 borders, with East Jerusalem as its capital.