King and Obama deepen 21st century partnership
ARAB NEWS
Published — Sunday 6 September 2015
Last update 7 September 2015 1:04 am
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WASHINGTON: Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Salman and US President Barack Obama have directed Saudi-American officials to develop mechanisms for the establishment of a new strategic partnership between the two countries for the 21st century, said Foreign Minister Adel Al-Jubeir.
Based on the directives of King Salman, Al-Jubeir said that Deputy Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, second deputy premier, minister of defense and chairman of the Council of Economic and Development Affairs (CEDA), briefed President Obama on the Saudi vision for the new 21st century partnership.
Addressing a press conference at the Saudi Embassy in Washington on Friday, the foreign minister also said that the new partnership would include many aspects such as security, military, economic, finance and education.
“There was a desire, intention and willingness from the two leaders to move these relations to a new level and the deputy crown prince has managed, under the guidance of King Salman, to explain this vision to President Obama who welcomed it and expressed his wish to work closely with Saudi Arabia in order to realize this vision,” said Al-Jubeir.
“The visit of King Salman to the US is a landmark, historic and important visit for bilateral relations between the two countries,” said Al-Jubeir.
“The foundations for new frameworks in the relationship between the two countries have been laid.”
He described the meeting between King Salman and President Obama as positive and fruitful as well as an indicator of the depth of relations.
Al-Jubeir said that the talks also dealt with cooperation between Saudi Arabia and the US in the areas of energy and environmental protection.
Al-Jubeir also pointed out hat the Kingdom was one of the first countries to fight terrorism and terrorist financing, and the laws of the Kingdom criminalize financing of terrorist organizations and aim to stop the flow of funding to terrorists, regardless of the source.
He explained that the two sides discussed the nuclear deal with Iran and President Obama’s assurances to King Salman that the agreement would prevent Iran from developing a nuclear weapon.
Iran has been interfering with its neighbors since the end of the 1970s, said the minister.
“Iran has to stop supporting terrorism and feeding internal sectarian differences and also to stop its interference in the internal affairs of other countries,” he said.
“The ball is now in the Iranian court and it has to prove its seriousness in turning to a new page.”
Al-Jubeir said King Salman and President Obama discussed ways to solve the Yemeni crisis and alleviate Yemen’s humanitarian crisis.
“We would hope that the UN supervises the ports of Yemen to facilitate the entry of aid and we aim to have a stable and prosperous Yemen,” he said, stressing the importance of implementing UN Security Council Resolution 2261 and the GCC initiative.
With respect to King Salman’s order to allocate $274 million for relief in Yemen, Al-Jubeir said that Saudi Arabia had asked for a clarification of how this amount would be spent, “but we have not got a response in this regard.”
Al-Jubeir said that Saudi Arabia continuously provides Yemen with humanitarian and relief support through the King Salman Center for Relief and Humanitarian Aid.
He pointed out that the center has signed many agreements with a number of international organizations for relief work in Yemen.
The minister said that the Saudi-US Summit talks dealt with the Palestinian issue and stressed the importance of the 2002 Arab Peace Initiative.
“The two sides discussed the need for a solution to the Syrian crisis, to be based on Geneva I recommendations, stressing that Assad is responsible for the emergence of Daesh in Syria and Iraq,” he said.
Al-Jubeir said that the Saudi position on Syria has not changed and that the solution includes the departure of Assad, “due to his responsibility for killing more than 300,000 Syrians, including women and children.”
He said that Russian military support to Assad, if true, would constitute a serious threat.
On Iraq, Al-Jubeir said that the two leaders expressed their support that reforms in Iraq would contribute to strengthening national unity.
He underlined the importance of the election of a new president in Lebanon.
Al-Jubeir said that King Salman and President Obama also addressed global economic issues and climate change as well as matters of global health.
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