Biden to meet Bahrain, Saudi, Oman, UAE, Kuwait leaders

Agencies | Dubai       

The Daily Tribune – www.newsofbahrain.com

US President Joe Biden will visit Saudi Arabia from July 15-16 where he will meet Saudi King Salman, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and leaders of Gulf Cooperation Council nations including Bahrain.

The report was confirmed by Saudi state media reported yesterday. Biden is scheduled to attend a summit with leaders of Gulf Arab states as well as Egypt’s President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, Iraq’s Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi and Jordan’s King Abdullah, state news agency SPA reported.

While in Saudi Arabia, Biden will meet leaders from Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Iraq, Jordan and Egypt. Biden’s tour starts with a stop in Israel and the West Bank before landing in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, where he is expected to meet with nearly a dozen regional leaders, including the crown prince, as part of a summit of the Gulf Cooperation Council and others, a senior official said.

The official did not provide specific details on the meeting with bin Salman. The official added that if Biden “determines it’s in his interest to engage with any particular leader, and if such an engagement can deliver results, then he will do so.”

The official pointed to the crown prince’s role in helping broker an extension of an UN-brokered truce between Yemen’s warring parties as an example of the need to engage with Saudi Arabia as way to help bring peace and security to the region.

The visit to Saudi Arabia comes as Biden is trying to find ways to lower gasoline prices in the United States. The group of oil-producing nations called OPEC+, led by Saudi Arabia, recently agreed to boost oil production to help bring down prices.

During the stop in Israel, Biden will emphasise the US commitment to the country, which includes billions in military support. He will also hold a virtual summit with the leaders of Israel, India, and the United Arab Emirates as a way to demonstrate that regional partnerships extend beyond the Middle East, the official said.

While in the West Bank, Biden plans to meet with Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas and other leaders to reaffirm his commitment to a two-state solution between Israel and Palestine, the official said. He will end the trip in Saudi Arabia where he will meet close to a dozen leaders from Kuwait, Oman, United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Qatar, plus Iraq, Jordan and Egypt.