Jordan king in Riyadh to discuss Daesh

ABDULLAH, SALMAN ALSO TO HOLD TALKS ON REGIONAL AND GLOBAL ISSUES

Jordan’s King Abdullah II arrived yesterday in Saudi Arabia for a meeting with newly enthroned King Salman, with their talks focusing on the fight against terrorism as the two countries take part in US-led air strikes targeting Daesh.

The Saudi Press Agency reported that Salman greeted the Jordanian monarch at the airport. The agency said the two kings are set to discuss a number of regional and international issues.

A Saudi official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorised to release the information, said the meeting would focus on efforts to fight Daesh, the ongoing Israeli occupation of Palestinian land and turmoil in Yemen.

‘Odious crime’

Earlier this month, Daesh extremists burnt a captive Jordanian pilot to death, a killing that Salman condemned as an “odious crime” and which Jordan vowed to avenge.

On the sidelines of King Abdullah’s visit, the head of the world’s largest Islamic body met with Jordan’s Islamic Affairs minister in Saudi Arabia to discuss Muslim support for occupied Jerusalem’s Al Aqsa Mosque.

Eyad Madani, the secretarygeneral of the 57-nation Organisation of Islamic Cooperation, paid a rare visit in January to Al Haram Al Sharif, which houses Al Aqsa Mosque, where tensions have flared surrounding the holy site.

Since Israel captured east Jerusalem from Jordan in 1967, Jewish worshippers have been allowed to visit — but not pray — at the site.

The area is run by Muslim authorities under Jordanian custody. Jordan’s Hashemite rulers were at one point also custodians of Islamic holy sites in Makkah and Madinah, which are now under Saudi control.

Earlier this week, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas met with Salman in Riyadh. During that visit, Salman stressed Saudi support for a Palestinian state with occupied east Jerusalem as its capital.

A Saudi official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said the meeting would also focus on the Israeli occupation of Palestinian land and turmoil in Yemen

AP Key allies Jordanian King Abdullah with King Salman of Saudi Arabia on his arrival in Riyadh yesterday.