Saudi Arabia Urges U.N. to Condemn Attacks on Diplomats
Saudi Arabia will urge the U.N. General Assembly to condemn attacks on diplomats following an alleged Iranian plot to assassinate the kingdom's envoy to the United States, the official SPA news agency reported on Wednesday.
The Saudi mission to the United Nations will "today (Wednesday) present a draft resolution to the General Assembly entitled: 'Terrorist Attacks Against Persons with International Immunity'," SPA said.
The Saudi mission "condemned the plot to assassinate the (Saudi) envoy in the United States" and "urged the international community to condemn terrorism," it added.
Iran has fiercely and repeatedly denied any involvement in the alleged plot, which the United States said implicated an Iranian-American car salesman in custody and Iranian officials in a plan to hire a Mexican drug cartel to kill the Saudi ambassador.
Iranian officials have called the plot allegation an attempt by Washington to divert attention from domestic economic woes and foreign policy failures in the Middle East.
"Saudi authorities have formed a security force aimed at protecting ambassadors and Saudi missions abroad as well as foreign missions inside Saudi Arabia," the Saudi-owned Al-Hayat newspaper reported.
The force comprises "qualified commando teams, officers, and individuals in a new independent sector named 'Special Forces for Diplomatic Security'," the London-based daily said.
The kingdom's "general security body will supervise the team which will work under the umbrella of the interior ministry and is being armed at the highest levels," it added.
On Saturday, the Saudi embassy in Damascus came under attack by angry Syrian regime supporters who pelted the building with rocks before some people broke in, breaking windows and sacking the premises.
Saudi Arabia was among 18 of the 22 members of the Arab League that voted on Saturday to suspend Syria from the pan-Arab bloc in the face of an eight-month crackdown that has cost more than 3,500 lives, according to U.N. figures.
Source: Agence France Presse
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