Saudi says no plans for embargo despite Khashoggi row
Moscow, Oct 22 : Saudi Arabia said Monday it had no plans to repeat its harsh 1973 oil embargo, even as relations with the West sour following the killing of Saudi critic Jamal Khashoggi.
Riyadh, long the world's biggest oil producer, hiked prices sharply during the 1973 Yom Kippur War, setting off a wave of inflation that plunged developed economies into years of crisis.
Saudi Oil Minister Khaled al-Faleh told the TASS news agency that "there is no intention" of repeating the events of 1973.
"Saudi Arabia is a completely responsible country. For decades, we have used our oil (production) policy as a responsible economic tool and we have kept it apart from politics," Faleh was quoted as telling TASS in an interview in Riyadh.
"If oil prices were to rise too much, that would slow the global economy and set off a global recession.
"Saudi Arabia has been coherent in its policy. We work to stabilise global markets and to facilitate global economic growth," he added.
Riyadh's changing accounts of what happened to Khashoggi, an insider turned critic of the government, have run into increasing western scepticism, with even firm ally US President Donald Trump saying the government had lied about what happened.
In its latest version, the government conceded that Khashoggi was killed by mistake in its Istanbul consulate but this only sparked more calls for a complete and transparent investigation, coupled with the threat of sanctions.
"This incident will pass," al-Faleh forecast.
Let the Truth be known. If you read VB and like VB, please be a VB Supporter and Help us deliver the Truth to one and all.
Karnataka Assembly Speaker seeks probe after Aadhaar cards found on riverbank in Mangaluru
Mangaluru (Karnataka) (PTI): Karnataka Legislative Assembly Speaker U T Khader on Wednesday sought an inquiry after a large number of Aadhaar cards were found on the banks of the Nethravathi River here.
The cards were found at Farangipete in Pudu village of his Mangaluru Assembly constituency.
Khader, in a note to the Project Manager of the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI), Bengaluru, sought immediate intervention and necessary action against those responsible.
In the note dated March 4, he said that local residents noticed the Aadhaar cards along the riverbank on March 3.
Following information received from the public, the Pudu Gram Panchayat president and villagers collected the Aadhaar cards found scattered in the area. They subsequently brought the matter to his attention and the concerned authorities, he said.
Expressing concern over the incident, the Speaker has directed that a thorough investigation be conducted to ascertain how such a large number of Aadhaar cards ended up on the riverbank and to identify those responsible.
He instructed officials to initiate appropriate legal action through the concerned department at the earliest.
