Saudi Arabia
(asked on 8th June 2015) - View Source
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what discussions they have had with the government of Saudi Arabia concerning the funding of extremist jihadi movements, such as ISIS, and its steps to propagate Wahhabism outside Saudi Arabia.
This question was answered on 17th June 2015
The Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, my right hon. Friend the Member for Runnymede and Weybridge (Mr Hammond), and his Saudi Arabian counterpart both attended the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) Coalition Small Group Ministerial meeting in Paris on 2 June. In addition to the plenary meeting, the Foreign Secretary discussed ISIL with Ministers from across the Gulf Cooperation Council, including a separate bilateral meeting with Saudi Foreign Minister Adel Al Jubeir. With ISIL on its doorstep in Iraq and Syria, and following the attacks on 22 and 29 May at two mosques in the Eastern Province of Saudi Arabia, the Kingdom is a key part of international efforts to defeat ISIL. The King and the religious establishment continue to condemn ISIL clearly and publicly, and emphasise that they do not in any way represent the teachings of the Islamic faith. The Saudi Arabian government is working to reduce the threat that religious extremists pose in Saudi Arabia and elsewhere, and has a comprehensive set of laws in place to prevent terrorist financing, which it enforces vigorously.
The Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, my right hon. Friend the Member for Runnymede and Weybridge (Mr Hammond), and his Saudi Arabian counterpart both attended the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) Coalition Small Group Ministerial meeting in Paris on 2 June. In addition to the plenary meeting, the Foreign Secretary discussed ISIL with Ministers from across the Gulf Cooperation Council, including a separate bilateral meeting with Saudi Foreign Minister Adel Al Jubeir. With ISIL on its doorstep in Iraq and Syria, and following the attacks on 22 and 29 May at two mosques in the Eastern Province of Saudi Arabia, the Kingdom is a key part of international efforts to defeat ISIL. The King and the religious establishment continue to condemn ISIL clearly and publicly, and emphasise that they do not in any way represent the teachings of the Islamic faith. The Saudi Arabian government is working to reduce the threat that religious extremists pose in Saudi Arabia and elsewhere, and has a comprehensive set of laws in place to prevent terrorist financing, which it enforces vigorously.