Kuwait Calls on International Community to Ensure Syria’s Security, Stability

Sheikh Mishal Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah, Emir of Kuwait, and Syrian President Ahmed Al-Sharaa during an official meeting held on Sunday (KUNA). 
Sheikh Mishal Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah, Emir of Kuwait, and Syrian President Ahmed Al-Sharaa during an official meeting held on Sunday (KUNA). 
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Kuwait Calls on International Community to Ensure Syria’s Security, Stability

Sheikh Mishal Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah, Emir of Kuwait, and Syrian President Ahmed Al-Sharaa during an official meeting held on Sunday (KUNA). 
Sheikh Mishal Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah, Emir of Kuwait, and Syrian President Ahmed Al-Sharaa during an official meeting held on Sunday (KUNA). 

Kuwait reaffirmed on Sunday its commitment to bolstering international efforts to guarantee Syria’s security and stability, while preserving its sovereignty and territorial integrity. This came during an official round of talks between Sheikh Mishal Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah, the Emir of Kuwait, and Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa.

The discussions were also attended by Kuwait’s Crown Prince Sheikh Sabah Khaled Al-Hamad Al-Sabah, Prime Minister Sheikh Ahmad Abdullah Al-Ahmad Al-Sabah, and Minister of the Amiri Diwan Sheikh Mohammad Abdullah Al-Mubarak Al-Sabah.

Kuwait marks the Syrian president’s seventh stop in the Arab world and ninth internationally since taking office in January 2025, following the ouster of former President Bashar al-Assad on December 8, 2024.

According to Minister Mohammad Abdullah Al-Mubarak Al-Sabah, the talks highlighted “the deep-rooted fraternal ties between the two countries and peoples, and ways to support and enhance them in all fields.”

The two sides reviewed the situation in Syria and reaffirmed the importance of bolstering international efforts to ensure the country’s security, stability, sovereignty, and territorial integrity. The discussions also covered key regional and international developments, and ways to support unified Arab action.

Additionally, Kuwait’s First Deputy Prime Minister and Interior Minister Sheikh Fahd Yousef Saud Al-Sabah, along with Foreign Minister Abdullah Ali Al-Yahya, held extended talks with Al-Sharaa and Foreign Minister Asaad Al-Shibani to explore mechanisms for enhancing cooperation and coordination between Kuwait and Syria.

During his visit, Al-Sharaa also met with several Kuwaiti business leaders to discuss development projects and investment opportunities in Syria. He also held a meeting with members of the Syrian expatriate community in Kuwait.

Damascus is seeking to strengthen ties with Arab and Western leaders in the aftermath of Assad’s fall, hoping that the lifting of economic sanctions and an influx of Gulf aid and investments will help rebuild the war-torn nation.

On Saturday, Saudi Arabia’s foreign minister announced that the Kingdom, in coordination with Qatar, would provide financial support for Syrian state employees. A joint statement from Saudi Arabia and Qatar noted that this financial assistance would be distributed over three months.

This initiative followed a previous contribution by both countries in April, which helped Syria pay off around $15 million in arrears owed to the World Bank.

The Kuwait Fund for Arab Economic Development has extended 28 loans to Syria, totaling 333 million Kuwaiti dinars (approximately $1.085 billion). Kuwait also hosts a large Syrian community estimated at around 200,000 people.

 

 

 

 



Activist Aid Ship Nears Gaza After Reaching Egypt Coast

 Climate activist Greta Thunberg stands near a Palestinian flag after boarding the Madleen boat and before setting sail for Gaza along with activists of the Freedom Flotilla Coalition, departing from the Sicilian port of Catania, Italy, Sunday, June 1, 2025. (AP)
Climate activist Greta Thunberg stands near a Palestinian flag after boarding the Madleen boat and before setting sail for Gaza along with activists of the Freedom Flotilla Coalition, departing from the Sicilian port of Catania, Italy, Sunday, June 1, 2025. (AP)
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Activist Aid Ship Nears Gaza After Reaching Egypt Coast

 Climate activist Greta Thunberg stands near a Palestinian flag after boarding the Madleen boat and before setting sail for Gaza along with activists of the Freedom Flotilla Coalition, departing from the Sicilian port of Catania, Italy, Sunday, June 1, 2025. (AP)
Climate activist Greta Thunberg stands near a Palestinian flag after boarding the Madleen boat and before setting sail for Gaza along with activists of the Freedom Flotilla Coalition, departing from the Sicilian port of Catania, Italy, Sunday, June 1, 2025. (AP)

An aid ship with 12 activists on board, including Swedish climate campaigner Greta Thunberg, has reached the Egyptian coast and is nearing the besieged Palestinian territory, organizers said on Saturday.

The Madleen, part of the Freedom Flotilla Coalition, left Sicily last week with a cargo of relief supplies "to break Israel's blockade on Gaza".

"We are now sailing off the Egyptian coast," German human rights activist Yasemin Acar told AFP. "We are all good," she added.

In a statement from London on Saturday, the International Committee for Breaking the Siege of Gaza -- a member organization of the flotilla coalition -- said the ship had entered Egyptian waters.

The group said it remains in contact with international legal and human rights bodies to ensure the safety of those on board, warning that any interception would constitute "a blatant violation of international humanitarian law".

European parliament member Rima Hassan, who is on board the vessel, urged governments to "guarantee safe passage for the Freedom Flotilla."

The Palestinian territory was under Israeli naval blockade even before the October 7, 2023 attack by Hamas that sparked the Gaza war and Israel has enforced its blockade with military action in the past.

A 2010 commando raid on the Turkish ship Mavi Marmara, which was part of a similar aid flotilla trying to breach the blockade, left 10 civilians dead.

In May, another Freedom Flotilla ship, the Conscience, reported coming under drone attack while en route for Gaza, prompting Cyprus and Malta to send rescue vessels in response to its distress call. There were no reports of any casualties.

Earlier in its voyage, the Madleen changed course near the Greek island of Crete after receiving a distress signal from a sinking migrant boat.

Activists rescued four Sudanese migrants who had jumped into the sea to avoid being returned to Libya. The four were later transferred to an EU Frontex vessel.

Launched in 2010, the Freedom Flotilla Coalition is a coalition of groups opposed to the blockade on humanitarian aid for Gaza that Israel imposed on March 2 and has only partially eased since.

Israel has faced mounting international condemnation over the resulting humanitarian crisis in the territory, where the United Nations has warned the entire population of more than two million is at risk of famine.

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