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Ban thanks Saudi Arabia for backing UN aid effort in Iraq

01 July 2014 17:54 (UTC +04:00)

Baku-APA. UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon on Tuesday thanked Saudi Arabia for donating 500 million U.S. dollars to support the UN's humanitarian aid effort in Iraq, APA reports quoting Xinhua.

"The secretary-general expresses deep gratitude to the Government of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia for their generosity in contributing 500 million U.S. dollars to the United Nations for life-saving humanitarian assistance to people in Iraq," said a statement issued here by Ban's spokesperson.

"The secretary-general welcomes the timely funding, which will enable the United Nations and its partners to support the millions of Iraqi men, women and children whose lives have been torn apart by the conflict," it said.

Saudi Arabia on Tuesday pledged 500 million U.S. dollars in humanitarian aid for Iraq, to be disbursed through the United Nations to those in need "regardless of sect or ethnicity," state media reported.

Armed extremists seized Mosul, Iraq's second-largest city, on June 10 following days of fighting against Iraqi government forces. As many as 500,000 people have reportedly fled Mosul in the wake of the violence.

So far this year, an estimated 1.2 million Iraqis have been displaced by fighting, including from Anbar and Ninewa governorates, according to the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR).