RIYADH: Assistant Minister of State for African Countries Affairs Ambassador Sami Saleh met UK Ambassador to Saudi Arabia Neil Crompton on Tuesday.
During the meeting, they reviewed bilateral relations between the Kingdom and UK as well as the latest developments of common interest, including Sudan.
“I had a constructive meeting with the assistant minister of state for African countries affairs in which we discussed our coordinated efforts to support agreement on a ceasefire in the short term and how to restart the political process,” the UK ambassador told Arab News.
Crompton added that in addition to efforts to support a ceasefire in Sudan, the two agreed to coordinate regarding the humanitarian situation in the North African country.
“I also took the opportunity to thank Saudi Arabia for all its efforts enabling British nationals to flee Sudan,” the ambassador said.
“The extraordinary response from Saudi Arabia to the needs of those evacuating has seen over 8,000 individuals from 110 nationalities find safety in Jeddah. We are grateful for everything Saudi Arabia has done,” Crompton added.
The Kingdom began its evacuation efforts on April 22 following an announcement by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs starting the rescue of Saudi citizens and nationals of friendly countries, including the UK, from Sudan.
Saudi Arabia also provided many Indian evacuees with medical aid before coordinating with the embassy for their transfer home.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs released a statement on Monday saying that the number of evacuees from Sudan had reached 8,498 people from 110 different nationalities, including 278 Saudi citizens.
On April 22, Saudi Minister of Foreign Affairs Faisal bin Farhan received a phone call from the UK Foreign Secretary James Cleverly.
The two officials discussed developments in Sudan, stressing the importance of ending the military escalation in order to protect the Sudanese public.
