Riyadh – Syrian Vice President Abdul Halim Khaddam and Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmed Maher conducted a brief visit to Riyadh on Tuesday and held talks with Saudi officials regarding counterterrorism efforts. Khaddam delivered a message from Syrian President Bashar al-Assad to King Fahd bin Abdulaziz, which “covered the overall developments on the international and Arab fronts and the coordination of Arab countries’ stances toward current developments,” according to an official source.
Khaddam then discussed with Crown Prince Abdullah bin Abdulaziz the “situation in the Arab region and the coordination of Arab countries’ stances” after the September 11 attacks, as reported by an Arab diplomatic source. The source added that Khaddam also participated in a trilateral meeting with Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmed Maher and Saudi Foreign Minister Saud Al Faisal.
From his side, Maher delivered a message from Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak to the Saudi monarch. Maher stated in a press statement, “It’s natural for us to coordinate and exchange viewpoints in such circumstances,” and he added that Egypt “cooperates with the United States in the field of information exchange”
in its counterterrorism efforts. He pointed out that Mubarak’s message to King Fahd concerns “the Palestinian issue and recent events in the United States.”
On Monday, Khaddam delivered a message from President Assad to President Mubarak and discussed recent developments in the Middle East situation. It’s worth mentioning that Egypt, Syria, and Saudi Arabia have regularly coordinated in the field of foreign policy since the Gulf War (1991), in which the three countries participated as part of the international coalition against Iraq.