Despite the scorching heat, Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah waited for US President Barack Obama on the tarmac of King Khaled International Airport in Riyadh — a show of hospitality reserved for special guests.
Minutes after his arrival, Obama was welcomed by King Abdullah. As they greeted each other, a 21-gun salute went off in the vicinity.
For several minutes, King Abdullah and President Obama stood together as the national anthems of the two countries were played.
They reviewed the troops and passed through a receiving line of Saudi ministers, local officials and religious scholars. The two leaders then shared a cup of Arabian coffee inside the airport terminal.
Later in the day, Obama arrived by motorcade at King Abdullah’s Janadriya ranch on the suburbs of the Saudi capital, where guards astride horses greeted him.
At the Janadriya ranch, King Abdullah and Obama sat side by side inside a palatial meeting room in armchairs beneath a portrait of the late King Abdul Aziz and discussed a host of bilateral and regional issues as Foreign Minister Prince Saud Al-Faisal talked with White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel.
King Abdullah conferred the King Abdul Aziz Medallion on Obama and called him a “distinguished man who deserves to be in this position”.
