Sacked Saudi deputy defence minister named spy chief

Sacked Saudi deputy defence minister named spy chief
by Staff Writers
Jeddah, Saudi Arabia (AFP) July 01, 2014

Russia seeks UN ban on Syrian 'terrorist' oil sales
United Nations, United States (AFP) July 01, 2014 - Russia urged UN Security Council members Monday to back a draft statement to bar crude oil sales by "terrorist groups" in Syria, including as the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant

The text voices the council's concern at oil fields in Syria being seized by militants, and cites ISIL and Al-Nusra Front.

The draft statement, which could be discussed in the coming days, would have to be adopted unanimously by all 15 council members. As a statement, it is also less binding than a council resolution.

The Russian-backed measure "strongly condemns any engagement in direct or indirect trade of oil from Syria involving terrorist groups, and reminds that such engagement constitutes financial support for entities designated by the Security Council 1267/1989 Committee as terrorist."

Such a designation could include groups under UN sanctions.

The text further "encourages all member states to take necessary measures to prevent their nationals and entities and individuals in their territory from engaging in any commercial and financial transactions with respect to crude oil in Syria in the possession of non-state actors or sold by them."

Russia, which currently holds the rotating UN presidency, hands it to Rwanda on July 1.

"One of the sources of financing of terrorists in the Middle East is the illegal sale of oil and various countries are buying through intermediaries," Russia's UN ambassador Vitaly Churkin told reporters.

"We know that terrorist organizations are doing illegal oil trading from the territories of both Syria and Iraq (so since)... it is a terrorist organization those who are buying this oil are financing terrorism."

ISIL, which rebranded itself as the Islamic State, claimed it was establishing a "caliphate" extending from Aleppo in northern Syria to Diyala province in eastern Iraq, regions where it has fought against the regimes in power.

Saudi King Abdullah appointed a new spy chief, giving the job to the former deputy defence minister days after sacking him from that post, SPA state news agency reported Tuesday.

Prince Khaled bin Bandar bin Abdul Aziz had been unexpectedly removed from his post on Saturday at the request of his boss the defence minister, after only 45 days on the job.

There was no reason for his sacking but early Tuesday the SPA said that Prince Khaled had been appointed "head of the General Intelligence with a minister rank" by royal decree.

The announcement comes after jihadists spearheading a Sunni militant offensive in Iraq have declared on Sunday an "Islamic caliphate", ordering Muslims around the world to pledge allegiance to their chief.

Last week Abdullah slammed the jihadists, who are also active in Syria, and instructed authorities to take "necessary measures" to defend his oil-rich kingdom amid fears the Iraq offensive could spill over into Saudi Arabia.

Prince Khaled will take over from Prince Bandar bin Sultan, the kingdom's former pointman on the Syrian conflict who headed the intelligence service for two years until April.

A separate royal decree reported by SPA named Prince Bandar as an "advisor to the king and his special envoy".

Prince Bandar, a former ambassador to the United States, is widely regarded as among the most influential powerbrokers in the Middle East and was appointed intelligence chief in 2012.

Diplomats said in February that Prince Bandar was sidelined in Saudi efforts to support rebels fighting Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.

They said his management of the Syrian file had triggered American criticism and the matter was discussed during US officials' visits to the kingdom.

The prince himself reproached Washington for its decision not to intervene militarily in Syria, and for preventing its allies from providing rebels with much-needed weapons, according to diplomats.

Saudi Arabia has been strongly supportive of the rebels battling Assad.

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