JEDDAH, 23 September 2007 — Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah held talks with Qatari Emir Sheikh Hamad ibn Khalifa Al-Thani here yesterday on major regional and international issues. They also explored ways of strengthening bilateral ties.
Crown Prince Sultan and Qatari Prime Minister Sheikh Hamad ibn Jassim Al-Thani attended the talks, the Saudi Press Agency said. The Qatari emir and his delegation later left the Kingdom and were seen off at the airport by Makkah Gov. Prince Khaled Al-Faisal and other top officials.
King Abdullah hosted an iftar banquet in honor of Sheikh Hamad and his delegation. Prince Sultan, Prince Abdul Rahman, deputy minister of defense and aviation, other senior princes attended the banquet.
Qatar's QNA news agency said the two leaders discussed ways of developing "the brotherly ties" between their countries and "developments on regional and international arenas."
The emir's trip came some three months before Qatar is due to host the annual year-end summit of the Gulf Cooperation Council, which groups Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, and the United Arab Emirates alongside Qatar. The gathering of the heads of state is expected in early December.
A Gulf diplomatic source in Riyadh said one of the aims of Sheikh Hamad's visit was to "improve the atmosphere" between Riyadh and Doha ahead of the GCC summit.
