Saudi Arabia opens consular section at embassy in Kabul

By Ibrahim al-Khazen

ISTANBUL (AA) - Saudi Arabia announced Tuesday that it was opening the consular section at its embassy in the Afghan capital of Kabul.

Saudi official news agency SPA quoted a statement by the Foreign Ministry that said the decision "stems from the Kingdom's keenness to provide all consular services to the Afghan people."

Saudi Arabia called Monday for holding an extraordinary meeting of the Ministerial Council of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) "to discuss the humanitarian situation in Afghanistan."

It added that Pakistan offered to host the meeting in Islamabad on Dec. 17.

The Kingdom warned that should Afghanistan face economic collapse in the wake of the Taliban taking power this summer, it would damage regional and international peace and stability.

On Aug. 17, two days after the Taliban seized control of Kabul, the US froze $9.5 billion in assets of Afghanistan's central bank.

Donors and international organizations including the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund have stopped making payments to the interim Taliban regime.

The UN forecasts that 22.8 million people or more than half of Afghanistan's population will face severe food problems.

*Writing by Ahmed Asmar in Ankara