Obama adds Saudi Arabia stop to trip

Al-Shorfa Online and wire service
For Al-Shorfa.com
2009-05-30

U.S. President Barack Obama meets with King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia at the G-20 summit at the ExCel Centre in London, April 2. (AP Photo/Charles Dharapak)

WASHINGTON – U.S. President Obama will travel to Riyadh, Saudi Arabia for a previously unannounced visit to discuss Mid-East peace with King Abdullah bin Abdul Aziz, his press secretary said May 28.

The visit will take place the day before Obama is to deliver a speech in Cairo, Egypt in which he is expected to reach out to the Muslim world and also discuss his hopes for peace in the region.

Analysts consider Obama's visit to Saudi Arabia an opportunity to renew ties and address many mutual concerns, including Iran, the Arab-Israeli conflict and the global economic crisis.

King Abdullah is influential in the Arab and Islamic world, and as Director of the Carnegie Centre for Peace in the Middle East Paul Salem points out, he is a key to improving U.S. relations with Arabs and Muslims. The King “is a major player on three fronts. One front is the general Islamic world; Saudi Arabia hosts the Organisation of the Islamic Conference and is the site of Mecca and Medina, so it is an important factor in Obama's attempt to repair relations with the Muslim world and the Arab world."

Obama will participate in no public events in Riyadh, but will have a private dinner with the king and spend the night in the city before heading to Egypt.

Following the Cairo speech, the president is scheduled to visit France to commemorate the 65th anniversary of D-Day in Normandy.

[

Bookmarking

Please comment on this article so that we can improve the experience of viewing this website.