Kerry: Saudi Arabia 'very important' ally
Iran Press TV
Mon Nov 4, 2013 3:32PM GMT
US Secretary of State John Kerry has praised Saudi Arabia as a 'very, very important' ally as he visited the kingdom in an attempt to ease tensions recently raised between the two countries over US policy on the Middle East.
'The Saudis are very, very important to all of us. The Saudis are really the senior player in the Arab world together with Egypt,' he said Monday in remarks to US Embassy staff in Riyadh.
'We have very important things to talk about to make sure the Saudi-US relationship is on track, rolling forward and doing things that we need to accomplish,' Reuters quoted him as saying.
He told reporters later in the day that US ties with Saudi Arabia are 'strategic and enduring" and that there is "no difference in our mutually agreed upon goal in Syria,' according to AFP.
Washington's relationship with the Saudis was crucial as the Middle East faced changes and challenges from the transition in Egypt to unrest in Syria.
One of the key differences between the two allies is about how to handle the crisis in Syria. Saudi Arabia is angry over what is sees as a weak US foreign policy on the country.
Last month, Riyadh rejected a United Nations Security Council seat to protest what it called 'double standards' over the UN's failure to act in the Syrian conflict and a US decision to call off a previously announced plan for military strikes against Damascus.
"This was a message for the US, not the UN," Saudi Arabia's intelligence chief, Prince Bandar bin Sultan, said at the time.
The spymaster said the Persian Gulf country would also scale back its cooperation with Washington in funding and arming militant groups fighting the government of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.
Kerry's visit to Saudi Arabia is the second stop of his 10-day trip to the Middle East, Europe and North Africa. The top US diplomat had visited Egypt prior to travelling to the kingdom.
ARA/ARA
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