Obama, Saudi King Agree on Need to Press for Mideast Peace
VOA News 29 June 2010
U.S. President Barack Obama and Saudi Arabia's King Abdullah have agreed on the need to press for Middle East peace in a "bold" way.
Mr. Obama said the two leaders agreed at the White House Tuesday that efforts to forge peace, including a Palestinian homeland, must move forward. This was the third meeting between the two leaders.
The president said the two also discussed the situations in Afghanistan and Pakistan, and Iran's nuclear program.
Saudi Arabia, a Sunni Muslim country with the world's largest oil reserves, shares Western concerns over Shi'ite Iran's nuclear program. But the Saudi leader has said economic sanctions will not stop Tehran's alleged pursuit of nuclear weapons.
King Abdullah would like the U.S. to do more to resolve the issue, but Riyadh says it does not want to see a regional military conflict. The U.S. and Israel have not ruled out military action to stop Iran, which says its nuclear program is for peaceful purposes only.
Last year, the U.S. president asked Saudi Arabia to offer goodwill gestures to Israel as an incentive for the Jewish state to begin serious negotiations with the Palestinians.
But the Saudi king said he would not move beyond the 2002 Arab peace plan, which offers Israel recognition in exchange for returning territories occupied by Israel in 1967 and the establishment of a Palestinian state.
Some information for this report was provided by AFP, AP and Reuters.
|
NEWSLETTER
|
| Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list |
|
|
|
