King starts telethon with SR20m donation

JEDDAH — King Abdullah, Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques, started the ‘Saudi National Campaign for the Support of Brothers in Syria’ with a donation of SR20 million Monday night.

In view of the massive response, the national campaign has been extended to five days, announced Prince Ahmed Bin Abdul Aziz, Minister of Interior and Supervisor of the campaign.

To collect donations an accredited account has been opened at National Commercial Bank (Al-Ahli, NCB). Donations from within the Kingdom can be sent to account number 20188888000100 and donations from outside the Kingdom should be sent to account number SA2310000020188888000100.

Donations can also be made through tele banking at Al-Ahli (NCB) toll-free number 920001000.

The campaign has been launched in implementation of the directives of King Abdullah, Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques, who said that donations will be from all the Kingdom’s regions and that all Saudis should participate in the campaign.

Contributions in kind will also be accepted at Prince Faisal Bin Fahd Stadium in Riyadh and other places to be specified by regional authorities.

Earlier Monday, the Arab League at a meeting in the Qatari capital, Doha, agreed to offer $100 million in aid to Syrian refugees.

As tens of thousands of Syrians flee escalating war and chaos, the EU mulled ways of boosting humanitarian aid while beefing up sanctions and tightening an arms embargo against the regime Monday. Joining talks with their European Union counterparts, the foreign ministers of Britain, France and Sweden called for more help for Syrians who had fled to safety in neighbouring Jordan, Lebanon, Turkey and Iraq.

Brussels meanwhile announced it was increasing by 20 million euros ($24 million) its emergency aid to Syrian refugees to a total of 63 million euros. — Agencies