Biden arrives in Saudi Arabia for 1st visit to kingdom

By Ibrahim El-Khazen

JEDDAH, Saudi Arabia (AA) – US President Joe Biden arrived in Saudi Arabia on Friday from Israel, for his first visit to the kingdom since taking office last year.

Biden was welcomed at King Abdulaziz International Airport in Jeddah by Emir of Mecca region, Khalid Al-Faisal.

The US president is scheduled to meet with Saudi King Salman and his Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman during his two-day visit to the kingdom.

A US-Arab summit will also be held in Jeddah on Saturday, to be attended by Biden, the leaders of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries, Egypt, Iraq and Jordan.

On Thursday, Saudi Arabia announced that it would open its airspace to all carriers, paving the way for allowing Israeli flights over the kingdom.

Saudi Arabia does not have diplomatic relations with Israel and opposes normalization with Tel Aviv until ending the decades-long Israeli occupation of the Palestinian territories.

Biden’s visit to Saudi Arabia is the last stop in his current regional tour that included Israel and the West Bank.

*Ikram Imane Kouachi in Ankara contributed to this report