Biden Arrives in Saudi Arabia for First Visit to Kingdom

Jeddah, MINA – US President Joe Biden arrived in Saudi Arabia on Friday from Israel, for his first visit to the kingdom since taking office last year, Anadolu Agency melaporkan.

Biden was greeted at King Abdulaziz International Airport in Jeddah by the Emir of the Mecca region, Khalid Al-Faisal.

The US president is scheduled to meet Saudi King Salman and Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman during a two-day visit to the kingdom.

The US-Arab summit will also be held in Jeddah on Saturday, which will be attended by Biden, leaders of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries, Egypt, Iraq and Jordan.

On Thursday, Saudi Arabia announced that it would open its airspace to all carriers, paving the way to allow Israeli flights over the kingdom’s territory.

Saudi Arabia has no diplomatic relations with Israel and opposed normalization with Tel Aviv until ending Israel’s decades-long occupation of the Palestinian territories.

Biden’s visit to Saudi Arabia is the final destination on his current regional tour that includes Israel and the West Bank. (T/RE1)

Mi’raj News Agency (MINA)