Minister of Foreign Affairs Prince Saud Al-Faisal held a joint press conference with visiting Moroccan Foreign Minister Muhammad Ben Aissa in Riyadh today.
Prince Saud welcomed the Palestinian parties’ acceptance of the invitation issued earlier by Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz to host a meeting in Makkah so that the Palestinian groups could discuss their differences away from the interference of foreign parties. Prince Saud expressed the hope that acceptance of the invitation would be followed by an immediate end to the infighting and the convention of the meeting in Makkah.
On the peace process, Prince Saud said that he hopes the upcoming Quartet meeting on February 2 would revive the negotiation process, and that the meeting would concentrate on primary issues such as Jerusalem, borders and Palestinian refugees.
On the Lebanese issue, Prince Saud said he hoped the support shown at last week’s Paris donors’ conference would lead the Lebanese to reduce the turmoil there and return to dialogue. He reiterated the Kingdom’s call for Lebanon to accept the Arab League initiative.
Prince Saud also expressed concern for the ongoing bloodshed in Iraq.
Commenting on the appointment of Adel Al-Jubeir as the new Saudi Ambassador to the United States, Prince Saud said, “The abilities of the ambassador will help him to succeed in his mission, and he bears the responsibility to safeguard relations between the two countries.”
Asked about Russian President Vladimir Putin’s upcoming visit to the Kingdom, Prince Saud said that Saudi-Russian agreements on political and economic cooperation are expected to be signed during the visit that would increase cooperation between the two countries.
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