RIYADH: Sudanese President Omar Bashir, who arrived here Monday, held talks with King Salman to discuss bilateral relations and regional issues of mutual interest to further enhance cooperation on economic, political and security levels between the two countries.
“Saudi Arabia and Sudan signed an agreement to support a water project in Sudan,” an official at the Sudanese embassy in Riyadh told Arab News.
“The water agreement came in the form of a framework of a memorandum of understanding (MoU) on the Kingdom’s grant to finance a project for providing drinking water in rural areas,” said the official, who is a director of the Sudanese ambassador’s office here.
The deal was co-signed by Yousef bin Ibrahim Al-Bassam, vice president and managing director of the Saudi Fund for Development, and Sudanese Minister of State and director of the President’s Office Taha Osman Al-Hussein.
King Salman also received EU counter-terrorism coordinator Gilles de Kerchove, and the deputy secretary general of the EU External Action Service, Pedro Serrano, who came on Monday for official talks with Saudi authorities and with the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC).
The EU delegation also met with the justice minister, heads of relevant security agencies, and the GCC secretary general. The delegation also visited the Mohammed bin Naif Center for Counselling and Care.
Talks focused on the threat that Europe and the Kingdom face from terrorism, and the need to reinforce cooperation to counter that threat.
“Following recent terrorist attacks across Europe and in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, it is clear that we face a common threat from terrorism and violent extremism,” said de Kerchove.
“The EU and Saudi Arabia are already working together to confront the threat, including within the anti-Daesh coalition and in the Global Counter-Terrorism Forum. I believe this visit has helped both sides to define a number of potential areas for stronger cooperation and the need to promote a message of tolerance.” Serrano said: “The EU is reinforcing efforts to build effective counter-terrorism partnerships with a number of key partners in the Middle East and North Africa. The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia is a key partner in this regard.”
Justice Minister Sheikh Dr. Walid bin Mohammed Al-Samaani said the Kingdom is one of the leading countries supporting the fight against terrorism, and stressed the need for cooperation between states worldwide. He added that the Kingdom has gained extensive experience in the field of anti-terrorism by working on it early on.
Al-Samaani praised the merits and reliability of the Kingdom’s judicial provisions, based on Shariah law, that provide guarantees to suspects in terrorism cases.
He also praised Saudi-EU relations, stressing the importance of cooperation on anti-terrorism, as well as in the legal and judicial fields.
Al-Samaani said the Kingdom aims to work more with the international community in order to eliminate terrorist funding sources, while ensuring application of judicial rulings in such cases.
“The Kingdom, on the local level, has successfully ensured cooperation and coordination between all concerned parties to combat terrorism,” he said.
All rulings against terrorists are announced in the presence of the media, the defendant has the right to reject the ruling of the specialized court, and the Justice Ministry bears the cost of the lawyer selected by the defendant if the defendant is unable to pay the cost.