King Abdullah, Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques, and US President Barack Obama meet at the White House for the first time Tuesday to discuss issues expected to include peace in the Middle East, the Iranian nuclear issue and events in Iraq. A senior official at the US State Department said that the visit of King Abdullah, who arrives in Washington Monday from Toronto after the conclusion of the G20 meetings, confirms the “deep historical ties between the two countries”. “This will open relations into new and wider horizons in the light of international developments, and work toward bringing peace and stability to the Middle East,” the official said. The official added that the Arab Peace Initiative was an “important bridge” toward reaching that goal. “The initiative enjoys acceptance in international circles as a positive guiding framework to end the Arab-Israeli conflict,” he said. He added that President Obama seeks to continually renew partnership and dialogue between the US and the Islamic World. This is shown in the appointment of an official as his personal representative to Islamic nations who works constructively to create new horizons between the US and the people and countries of the Islamic World of which the Kingdom is the heart, the official said. The head of the media office at the embassy of Saudi Arabia in Washington has said that the meeting between King Abdullah and US President Barack Obama is of greater significance than the previous two given the “developments being witnessed in the region”. Nail Al-Jubeir said that greater US-Saudi coordination would be required to find solution to issues concerning the Middle East, and that the Arab-Israeli conflict would be a central part of discussions, highlighting the need to find solutions to realize the legitimate aspirations of the Palestinian people, and create a Palestinian state with Jerusalem as its capital. Al-Jubeir said the peoples of the West and the Arab and Islamic world look to the Saudi leadership to bring peace and stability to the region, and that King Abdullah's dialogue initiatives have had a considerable and positive effect on the world's media and particularly in the US in dispelling doubts exhibited in some quarters that the Islamic religion is a closed religion and not open to dialogue. Al-Jubeir also praised the Kingdom's role in fighting terrorism and extremism, and said that US circles had gained a greater understanding of the dimensions of the terrorism issue and the Kingdom's role in fighting and uprooting it. “The Kingdom is regarded worldwide as an example to follow in how to combat terrorism,” Al
