New York, January 09: King Abdullah, Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques, received at his residence in New York Friday evening Hillary Clinton, United States Secretary of State, accompanied by Bill Clinton, the former US president. They congratulated the King on his successful surgery and discharge from hospital, and wished him good health and a speedy recovery.
During the meeting, the King and US secretary of state discussed the latest regional and international developments.
The audience was attended by Prince Muqrin Bin Abdul Aziz, President of General Intelligence; Prince Bandar Bin Sultan Bin Abdul Aziz, Secretary General of the National Security Council; Prince Khaled Bin Abdullah Bin Abdul Aziz; Prince Mit’eb Bin Abdullah Bin Abdul Aziz, Minister of State, Member of the Cabinet, and Chief of the National Guard; Prince Abdulaziz Bin Abdullah Bin Abdul Aziz, Adviser to the King; and Adel Bin Ahmed Al-Jubeir, Saudi Ambassador to the United States of America.
The US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton discussed growing tensions in Lebanon with the country’s Prime Minister Saad Hariri at a separate meeting in New York, officials said.
Clinton reaffirmed strong US support for Lebanon’s independence and for the work of the UN-backed tribunal that is investigating the 2005 assassination of Hariri’s father, Rafiq Hariri, a source who attended the Clinton-Hariri meeting said.
The Saudi ambassador to Washington also met Hariri and it was not excluded that the prime minister could also meet with Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques, diplomats said.
Clinton first met King Abdullah. No details of the talks were given but State Department spokesman P.J. Crowley said before the meeting: “Certainly, she will emphasize to the King, as well as to the prime minister, our support of the democratic government in Lebanon, as well as our ongoing support for the special tribunal.” “Secretary Clinton expressed her strong support for the independence and sovereignty of Lebanon,” a source who attended the Hariri meeting told an AFP correspondent.
Clinton also “expressed very clearly her support for the Hariri tribunal.” The secretary of state left the hotel saying her talks had been “excellent” but no other official details were given.
–Agencies