Washington, SPA:
President Barack Obama of the United States of America received The Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz Al Saud and held a lunch banquet on his Honor which was attended by Prince Saudi Al-Faisal, Minister of Foreign Affairs, Prince Muqrin bin Abdulaziz, Chairman of the General Intelligence and Adel Bin Ahmad Al-Jubair, Saudi Ambassador to USA.
The Saudi King and the American President held a bilateral meeting.
In his welcoming speech, the U.S. President said, "I want to welcome King Abdullah Ibn Abdulaziz to the White House, and I am very pleased to be able to return the extraordinary hospitality that he showed me and my delegation when we visited Saudi Arabia and visited his ranch. Since that historic meeting that took place 65 years ago between Franklin Delano Roosevelt and His Majesty's father late King Abdulaziz, we have had a strong and strategic relationship between the United States and Saudi Arabia.
I always value King Abdullah's wisdom and insights, and we have had a very productive session speaking about a whole range of issues that relate to both relations between our two countries but also issues of prosperity and security around the globe.
We talked about our joint interest and worked together in combating violent extremism. And we talked about a range of strategic issues, including issues related to Afghanistan and Pakistan; Iran and its attempts to develop nuclear weapons capacity. We discussed the Middle East peace process and the importance of moving forward in a significant and bold way in securing a Palestinian homeland that can live side by side with a secure and stable Israeli state.
As representatives of two G20 countries, we also continued the conversation that took place this weekend about how the Saudi government and the United States government can work with our other partners around the world to keep the economic recovery going and to help bring about the strong economic growth that is necessary to put people back to work.
And we will continue to work together to expand the people-to-people contacts, the educational programs, the commercial ties, the business people who are working together in both countries so that not only do our governments remain strong partners but our people are continually enriching both countries.
On behalf of the American people, I welcome you. We appreciate your friendship and your good counsel and look forward to continuing to work together to strengthen the strong bonds between our two countries."
On his part, King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz expressed his thankfulness towards the American President and he said: "Mr. President, You leave nothing to me to say, but I would like to confirm that you are a respected man as all the world also confirm. As for the American people, I'd like to say it obviously that you Americans are friends of us, of Arabs' and all Human beings'. Such a friendship started since President Roosevelt and King Abdulaziz were leading our both countries, and it will continue forever. Thanks for you Mr. President and for all American People."