“Palestinians have the right to East Jerusalem as their
capital," said Saudi Arabia's King Salman on Wednesday during his annual
speech outlining his government’s priorities for the coming year, Saudi Gazette reported.
“The
Kingdom has called for a political solution to resolve regional crises,
foremost of which is the Palestinian issue and the restoration of the
Palestinian people’s legitimate rights, including the right to establish
their independent state with east Jerusalem as its capital,” the king
was quoted as saying.
He, however, did not attend the
emergency summit of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC)
convened by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in Istanbul on the
same day, which aimed to seek a tough response to the recognition by US
President Donald Trump of Jerusalem as Israel’s capital.
Islamic leaders declared “East Jerusalem as the capital of the State of Palestine”
at the summit and invited “all countries to recognise the State of
Palestine and East Jerusalem as its occupied capital”. They also
declared President Trump’s decision “null and void legally” and “a
deliberate undermining of all peace efforts” that would give impetus to
“extremism and terrorism”.
The summit, however, fell short of agreeing on concrete sanctions against Israel or US.
Iranian
President Hassan Rouhani, Jordanian King Abdullah II, Pakistan Prime
Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi and Lebanese President Michel Aoun were
among the heads of state present, as well as the emirs of Qatar and
Kuwait and presidents of Afghanistan and Indonesia.
King
Salman and his son Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, who has reportedly
been in close contact with Trump over the Middle East, were noticeably
absent. Instead, Riyadh sent a senior foreign ministry official.
“Some
countries in our region are in cooperation with the United States and
the Zionist regime and determining the fate of Palestine,” seethed
Rouhani — whose country does not recognise Israel and has dire relations
with Saudi Arabia — during the summit on Wednesday.
'Zero tolerance for corruption'
King Salman, inaugurating the second year of the 7th session
of the Shoura Council, also spoke about the recent Saudi purge against
corruption, spearheaded by the crown prince.
“We
have decided with God’s help to confront corruption with justice and
decisiveness so that our country can enjoy the renaissance and
development that every citizen aspires for,” King Salman said, adding
that a higher committee for public corruption issues headed by the Crown
Prince was formed for this reason.
Last month, Saudi Arabia arrested princes, including a prominent billionaire, and dozens of current and former ministers in a sweeping crackdown.
According to Saudi Gazette,
King Salman in his speech focused on economic issues said that the
country was pushing ahead with its Vision 2030 economic reforms.
“For
achieving the vision’s objectives, some government agencies have been
restructured and a number of decisions have been taken to serve the
interests of society, strengthen the state’s security, combat
corruption, and increase the participation of male and female citizens
in the national development,” he said.
The king,
however, emphasised in his speech that Saudi Arabia would not contradict
the principles of its faith as it “moves forward on the path of
development and modernization.”
“There is no place among
us for an extremist who sees moderation as deviation or who would
exploit our benevolent faith to achieve his goals,” he added.
Saudi Arabia's powerful crown prince in October had vowed to restore “moderate, open” Islam in the Kingdom.
“We
are returning to what we were before, a country of moderate Islam that
is open to all religions and to the world,” he had said at an economic
forum in Riyadh. “We will not spend the next 30 years of our lives
dealing with destructive ideas. We will destroy them today."
The
crown prince's statement was seen as a direct attack by a top official
on the country's influential conservative religious establishment.
