RIYADH: Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah held wide-ranging talks Sunday with Syrian President Bashar Assad which touched a range of bilateral and regional issues with special reference to the fate of the UN probe into the assassination of former Lebanese Premier Rafik Hariri, the political void in Iraq and an Arab response to the continued Israeli settlement.
The meeting also discussed ways and means to settle the internal bickering of Palestinian factions, the Saudi Press Agency reported. The talks, which also covered major regional and international issues, were held at the Royal Terminal of the Riyadh Air Base.
“The summit-level talks here on Sunday were focused on how to step up efforts to ease the political crisis in Lebanon over the UN probe," said a Syrian diplomat, adding that the talks also covered many other issues of common concern.
President Assad, he said, was in Riyadh just three days after the visit of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad to Lebanon, where the Iranian leader pledged support for Hezbollah. The visit of the Iranian president raised many questions at the regional political and diplomatic levels.
On arrival at Riyadh Air Base on Sunday evening, Assad was received by King Abdullah and senior Saudi officials. The Syrian president was accompanied by Foreign Minister Walid Al-Muallem. This is Assad's second trip to the Kingdom this year which is indicative of the progressively growing relations between Riyadh and Damascus.
Asked about the details of the talks, the Syrian diplomat said that King Abdullah and Assad discussed "all new developments in the Arab and Islamic world, while they also reviewed their positions on different issues".
Arab News
