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| Saudi Arabia Donates $500 Million to Help Displaced Iraqis | |
| (about 7 hours later) | |
| Answering criticism with cash, Saudi Arabia on Tuesday swooped in to address the humanitarian crisis caused by the Sunni insurgency in Iraq, providing $500 million to the United Nations to help the more than one million Iraqis whose lives have been uprooted by the mayhem of recent weeks. | |
| In a statement issued by the Saudi Embassy in Washington, the Saudi leader, King Abdullah, said he had ordered the assistance for Iraqis “who have suffered greatly from recent events, including those who have been displaced, regardless of their religion, sect or ethnicity.” | In a statement issued by the Saudi Embassy in Washington, the Saudi leader, King Abdullah, said he had ordered the assistance for Iraqis “who have suffered greatly from recent events, including those who have been displaced, regardless of their religion, sect or ethnicity.” |
| The Saudi donation was one of the largest single contributions to United Nations humanitarian relief — far eclipsing the figure of $312 million in emergency funding that the United Nations had sought to deal with the suddenly enlarged Iraq crisis. | The Saudi donation was one of the largest single contributions to United Nations humanitarian relief — far eclipsing the figure of $312 million in emergency funding that the United Nations had sought to deal with the suddenly enlarged Iraq crisis. |
| The pledge came after United Nations relief officials had publicly expressed alarm over the lack of funding from Iraq’s government and the paucity of outside donors. “It’s a situation that’s fluid and growing and we are concerned,” Jacqueline Badcock, the United Nations humanitarian coordinator in Iraq, said in an interview last week. | The pledge came after United Nations relief officials had publicly expressed alarm over the lack of funding from Iraq’s government and the paucity of outside donors. “It’s a situation that’s fluid and growing and we are concerned,” Jacqueline Badcock, the United Nations humanitarian coordinator in Iraq, said in an interview last week. |
| Already dealing with a large population of displaced Iraqis as a legacy of the 2003-11 war, the United Nations was confronted with more than a million newly uprooted people driven from their homes by the marauding extremists from the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria who overran Mosul, Tikrit and other cities in large sections of northern Iraq last month. | |
| Saudi Arabia, a hub of Sunni Islam that has helped finance and arm Sunni insurgents in Syria seeking to topple President Bashar al-Assad, has been blamed by some critics for the violence that has now spread to Iraq and raised the risks of a renewed sectarian war. | |
| Iran, the Shiite-led Saudi rival for influence in the region, is providing military assistance to the Iraqi government to help thwart the ISIS extremists. | Iran, the Shiite-led Saudi rival for influence in the region, is providing military assistance to the Iraqi government to help thwart the ISIS extremists. |
| Secretary General Ban Ki-moon of the United Nations issued a statement thanking the Saudis “for their generosity in contributing $500 million to the United Nations for lifesaving humanitarian assistance to people in Iraq.” | Secretary General Ban Ki-moon of the United Nations issued a statement thanking the Saudis “for their generosity in contributing $500 million to the United Nations for lifesaving humanitarian assistance to people in Iraq.” |