Obama meets new Saudi king to shore up ties

Riyadh: US President Barack Obama led a heavyweight delegation to Saudi Arabia on Tuesday to meet new King Salman and shore up ties that have suffered in recent years.

The longstanding allies remain bound by shared interests in regional stability and oil.
Since last year Saudi Arabia has been part of the US-led coalition carrying out air strikes against the Islamic State group.

But analysts say Riyadh has also grown dissatisfied with what it sees as a lack of US engagement in crises elsewhere in the region, including in Yemen and Libya, as Washington looks to Asia.

Members of the US delegation, which crossed party lines and included former Bush-era officials, said they wanted to show support for the US-Saudi relationship.

"I believe it is important that we demonstrate to the Saudis the importance that they represent to us," said James Baker, secretary of state during the first Gulf War against Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein.

"This is an extraordinarily critical and sensitive time in the Middle East when everything seems to be falling apart. And the kingdom in some way is becoming an island of stability," said Baker.

Obama and his 29-member delegation arrived for a four-hour stop from India where he cut short a state visit following the death of Salman´s predecessor, King Abdullah, on Friday.

Saudi television showed Salman, 79, welcoming Obama and his wife Michelle at the bottom of a red-carpeted ramp before a military band played the US and Saudi national anthems.

Salman´s heir Crown Prince Moqren and Mohammed bin Nayef, the powerful interior minister who is second in line to the throne, were among those greeting the Americans.

The US president then boarded a black limousine taking him for talks and dinner with Salman at central Riyadh´s Erga Palace, the king´s private residence where the smell of incense hung heavily in the air.

"Good to see you," Obama repeatedly said to his Saudi hosts before they dined on Arabic and Western dishes including shish tawook and baked lobster before leaving the kingdom.

Authorities deployed armoured vehicles, police cars and radar throughout the city to secure Obama´s visit, an AFP reporter observed.

Obama last visited Saudi Arabia in March, when he held talks with Abdullah.

Deputy National Security Adviser Ben Rhodes said the new trip was an "opportunity to both pay respects to the legacy of King Abdullah. (AFP)