Abdullah Welcomes Mubarak
25 February 2008 RIYADH — Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah held wide-ranging talks with Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak in Riyadh yesterday to discuss their positions on a range of bilateral and regional issues, including the next Arab Summit to be held in Damascus, Syria, on March 29-30. The talks primarily focused on Lebanon’s political standoff, the siege imposed on the Palestinian people and the continuing Israeli aggression.
“In their meeting, President Mubarak and King Abdullah discussed the pros and cons of the Arab Summit meeting with an aim to take crucial decisions,” said a diplomatic source.
He told Arab News that Mubarak, who will also travel to Bahrain during his Gulf visit, discussed the volatile situation of the occupied Palestinian territories, the Lebanese crisis and the Arab Summit.
King Abdullah personally received Mubarak and his accompanying delegation at the Riyadh airbase. A number of senior Saudi officials — including Crown Prince Sultan, deputy premier and minister of defense and aviation, Prince Salman, Riyadh governor, Hisham Mohieddin Nazar, Saudi ambassador to Egypt and M. Abdulhamid Qasim, Egyptian ambassador — were also present at the airbase. On arrival, the king hosted the Egyptian leader to a royal luncheon reception before talks began.
Referring to the summit-level talks, the diplomatic source said that “there is a crisis in ties with the Syrian government, with Lebanon being the main reason.”
“Damascus has not joined in the efforts, including the Arab initiative, to elect a consensus president in Lebanon,” said the source, adding that the Arab League plan calls for the election of a consensus president, the formation of a national unity government and a new electoral law.
An SPA report yesterday said that the two leaders discussed the current crisis in Lebanon as well as Arab efforts to find a solution to the crisis. The report added that the talks also covered the situation in Iraq as well as the importance of maintaining Iraq’s security, unity and sovereignty, besides enhancing ways and means to forge closer cooperation on bilateral, regional and international issues.
The talks also dealt with the outcomes of meetings recently conducted by the Egyptian leadership with several Arab parties, including a meeting between Mubarak, UAE President Sheikh Khalifa ibn Zayed Al-Nahyan and Jordan’s King Abdallah. Discussions mostly focused on the Damascus summit and other regional developments.
“By deciding their level of participation in the summit, both regional powers — Saudi Arabia and Egypt — are setting the tone for many Arab countries, which are likely to follow suit,” said a report published in Al-Riyadh Arabic daily yesterday. “Ahead of his visit to Riyadh, Mubarak stressed the importance of his alliance with Saudi Arabia and the Saudi people,” said the report.
“Saudi-Egyptian ties are the mainstay of pan-Arab cooperation,” Mubarak has been quoted as saying in the report. “The summit meeting also indicate that King Abdullah and Mubarak reaffirm their declared position that the election of a Lebanese president is a prerequisite to a successful Arab Summit,” the report added.
“In their meeting, President Mubarak and King Abdullah discussed the pros and cons of the Arab Summit meeting with an aim to take crucial decisions,” said a diplomatic source.
He told Arab News that Mubarak, who will also travel to Bahrain during his Gulf visit, discussed the volatile situation of the occupied Palestinian territories, the Lebanese crisis and the Arab Summit.
King Abdullah personally received Mubarak and his accompanying delegation at the Riyadh airbase. A number of senior Saudi officials — including Crown Prince Sultan, deputy premier and minister of defense and aviation, Prince Salman, Riyadh governor, Hisham Mohieddin Nazar, Saudi ambassador to Egypt and M. Abdulhamid Qasim, Egyptian ambassador — were also present at the airbase. On arrival, the king hosted the Egyptian leader to a royal luncheon reception before talks began.
Referring to the summit-level talks, the diplomatic source said that “there is a crisis in ties with the Syrian government, with Lebanon being the main reason.”
“Damascus has not joined in the efforts, including the Arab initiative, to elect a consensus president in Lebanon,” said the source, adding that the Arab League plan calls for the election of a consensus president, the formation of a national unity government and a new electoral law.
An SPA report yesterday said that the two leaders discussed the current crisis in Lebanon as well as Arab efforts to find a solution to the crisis. The report added that the talks also covered the situation in Iraq as well as the importance of maintaining Iraq’s security, unity and sovereignty, besides enhancing ways and means to forge closer cooperation on bilateral, regional and international issues.
The talks also dealt with the outcomes of meetings recently conducted by the Egyptian leadership with several Arab parties, including a meeting between Mubarak, UAE President Sheikh Khalifa ibn Zayed Al-Nahyan and Jordan’s King Abdallah. Discussions mostly focused on the Damascus summit and other regional developments.
“By deciding their level of participation in the summit, both regional powers — Saudi Arabia and Egypt — are setting the tone for many Arab countries, which are likely to follow suit,” said a report published in Al-Riyadh Arabic daily yesterday. “Ahead of his visit to Riyadh, Mubarak stressed the importance of his alliance with Saudi Arabia and the Saudi people,” said the report.
“Saudi-Egyptian ties are the mainstay of pan-Arab cooperation,” Mubarak has been quoted as saying in the report. “The summit meeting also indicate that King Abdullah and Mubarak reaffirm their declared position that the election of a Lebanese president is a prerequisite to a successful Arab Summit,” the report added.
Labels: Egypt, Palestine, Saudi Arabia
posted by HRM Deborah of Israel and the Messenger of Peace at 2:32 AM
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