McCain reassures Saudi king on ties
American senator reassures Riyadh of friendly relations
RIYADH // Influential American senator John McCain, a critic of president Donald Trump, held talks with Saudi Arabia’s King Salman yesterday. Mr McCain, who chairs the senate armed services committee, arrived in Riyadh after talks on Syria with Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
The Saudi Press Agency gave no details of Mr McCain’s meeting at King Salman’s office except to say that the friendly ties between their two countries were discussed. Mr McCain’s visit comes two days before Syria’s government and the opposition gather in Geneva tomorrow for a new round of United Nations-brokered talks aimed at ending six years of fighting.
Saudi Arabia, Turkey and Qatar have provided military and financial aid to rebels fighting Syria’s president Bashar Al Assad.
All are also members of a USled coalition battling ISIL there.
After his talks in Turkey, the Republican senator from Arizona said on his website that Mr Erdogan “described a proposal to establish safe zones in Syria and retake Raqqa, which should receive serious consideration by the United States”. He was referring to the ISIL “capital” in Raqqa, Syria.
Saudi foreign minister Adel Al Jubeir expressed optimism that the Trump presidency would be more engaged in the region, particularly in containing Iran which backs the Assad regime and rebels in Yemen.
Mr Al Assad’s other main ally is Russia, against which Mr McCain takes a hard line. Mr Trump, in contrast, has faced allegations of improper Russian influence on his administration, something he denied. The New York Times on Sunday called Mr McCain “critic in chief” of the Trump presidency, partly for his defence of traditional Republican foreign policy positions that oppose those of the president.
Mr McCain’s visit comes two days before the Syria talks