Saudi king meets senior GCC officials

Saudi King Salman met on Saturday several senior Gulf Arab officials, including the crown princes of Bahrain and Abu Dhabi as well as the prime minster of Qatar and Kuwait’s deputy premier, the Saudi Press Agency reported.

According to the state-run agency, King Salman met with Bahrain’s Crown Prince and First Deputy Premier Salman bin Hamad Al-Khalifa; Abu Dhabi Crown Prince and Deputy Supreme Commander of the UAE’s Armed Forces Sheikh Mohammad bin Zayed Al Nahyan; Qatari Prime Minister and Interior Minister Sheikh Abdullah bin Nasser Al Thani and Kuwait’s Deputy Premier and Interior Minister Sheikh Mohammad Al-Khaled Al-Hamad Al-Sabah.

The senior officials met the king at Al-Awja Palace “within framework of exchanging talks and views in the interest of the GCC peoples and all events in the region.”

According to the SPA, King Salman,who held a luncheon in their honor, toured with the GCC guests at Al-Awja Palace and the guests looked at the historical photos of the late King Abdulaziz.

Earlier, the GCC visitors held talks with Saudi Deputy Crown Prince Mohammed bin Naif bin Abdulaziz, who is also the second deputy premier and interior minister, the SPA reported.

At the meeting, the officials discussed the latest developments in the region, particularly Yemen.

“They expressed their concern over the dangerous developments in Yemen and their ramifications on the region,” the agency reported.

The officials reaffirmed their backing of Abd Rabuh Mansur Hadi as Yemen’s legitimate leader, “saying GCC countries were ready to provide all possible help to support Yemen's security and stability.”

They also stressed that the security of the GCC and Yemen were integral and called for “responding to Hadi’s call to hold the GCC-sponsored national dialogue of Yemeni parties in Riyadh to be attended by all political groups wishing to restore security and stability of the country in accordance with the aims showed by the Yemeni president in his message to … King Salman.”