Secretary Clinton holds “made for show meeting” with Saudi King Abdullah as he floods Syria with arms and foreign terrorists

Clinton holds talks with Saudi King Abdullah on Syria
US Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton meets Saudi King Abdullah on Friday, March 30, 2012.
30 March, 20120 –

Saudi Defense Minister Salman bin Abdul Aziz, Foreign Minister Saud al-Faisal and the Kingdom’s intelligence chief, Mogran bin Abdul Aziz, were also present in the Friday meeting, which was held in the Saudi Arabian capital of Riyadh.

Clinton’s aides said the meeting focused on further sanctions against Syria and looked into ways to assist the Syrian opposition, AFP reported.

On Saturday, the US secretary of state is scheduled to attend a first ministerial meeting of the [Persian] Gulf Cooperation Council-US strategic cooperation forum, which will be held in Riyadh ahead of the second so-called “Friends of Syria” meeting due on Sunday in Istanbul, Ankara.

Ministers from Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates will be present for the Saturday meeting.

Earlier this week, US State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland said in Washington that the Saturday meeting will discuss “missile defense cooperation with some of these (Arab) countries.”

On Wednesday, Syrian President Bashar al-Assad reiterated his government’s support for a six-point peace plan proposed by the joint United Nations and Arab League special envoy, Kofi Annan, saying Damascus will make every effort to ensure its success.

Saudi Arabia and Qatar are reportedly arming terrorist groups in Syria.

Meanwhile, an Arab League summit in Baghdad on Thursday expressed support for Annan’s plan for restoring peace in Syria, while rejecting any foreign intervention in the country and called on “a political solution and national dialogue… to preserve the unity of Syria”.

Syria has been experiencing unrest since mid-March 2011. …more