Abu Dhabi: General Shaikh Mohammad Bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Abu Dhabi Crown Prince and Deputy Supreme Commander of the UAE Armed Forces, on Monday received US Secretary of State John Kerry and the delegation accompanying him. Kerry is vising the UAE as part of a regional tour.
Shaikh Mohammad and Kerry discussed bilateral relations and ways to enhance them in various fields within the framework of common cooperation and for the best interests of both nations.
The talks also touched on the latest regional and international developments, in the presence of Shaikh Abdullah Bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Foreign Minister.
Shaikh Mohammad and Kerry exchanged views on a number of issues that concern both countries, with a focus on Syria. Shaikh Mohammad stressed the political and humanitarian responsibility of the international community towards the hardship of the Syrian people and the impacts of events on the stability of Syria’s neighbouring countries and the entire region.
He stressed the need to resume peace efforts to establish stability and peace in the region, and reiterated the UAE’s support to all efforts aiming at enhancing the chances of establishing peace, security and stability in the region.
Kerry asserted his country’s desire to boost avenues of common cooperation with the UAE and praised the UAE’s vital role in supporting relief efforts to help victims and people affected by conflicts in different parts of the world.
Surprise visit
Palestinian National Authority (PNA) president Mahmoud Abbas made a surprise visit to Riyadh on Monday to attend an unscheduled lunch meeting with Kerry.
The meeting came two weeks before US president Barack Obama makes a March 20-22 trip to occupied Jerusalem and the occupied West Bank to meet Israeli and Palestinian leaders respectively.
Kerry’s meeting with the Palestinian delegation in Riyadh was part of a nine nation, 11 day tour of European and Middle Eastern states that included Egypt and Gulf states, but not Israel.
US officials were however quick to point out that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had been made aware of the unscheduled meeting. Kerry, who is expected to accompany Obama on his Middle East trip, said he would talk with Abbas about “all the obvious issues” during the Riyadh meeting.
The meeting came on the same day that US Vice-President Joe Biden was to address the annual policy conference of the pro-Israel American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) in Washington.
Palestinian envoy in Riyadh Jamal Al Shobaki told the official Voice of Palestine radio before the lunch meeting that Abbas “will present the Palestinian point of view to the new US administration ahead of Obama’s visit”.
Abbas, in his first meeting with Kerry, will also “highlight Israeli violations in [occupied] Jerusalem, [Jewish colonies], and the issue of Palestinian prisoners on hunger strike,” said Al Shobaki.
Palestinian-Israeli peace talks have been deadlocked for more than two years.
Abbas wants to renew peace talks in tandem with a freeze on Jewish colony construction in the occupied West Bank and in occupied east Jerusalem, the 22 per cent of historical Palestine that the PNA wants for a future independent state.
