King Salman calls for African-Saudi summit

CAIRO – 5 June 2017: King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al-Saud of Saudi Arabia called for an African-Saudi summit by the end of this year, according to Al Arabiya on Tuesday.

The summit, which is likely to be held in Riyadh, is yet to be scheduled. However according to Saudi Foreign Minister Adel Al-Jubeir’s statements at the African summit in Addis Ababa on Tuesday, it is likely to be either “by the end of this year or the beginning of the coming one.”

Three summits were held with the presence of President Donald Trump in May in the Saudi capital, including the American-Saudi Summit, American-Gulf summit and American-Arab-Islamic summit. Several meetings were also held between Saudi officials and their American counterparts.

A number of agreements were signed between Saudi Arabia and the United States regarding countering terrorism and extremism, along with weapons deals estimated to be worth $350 billion.

Additionally, Egypt, Bahrain, the U.A.E. and Saudi Arabia’s foreign ministers will be meeting in Cairo on Wednesday according to the Egyptian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Ahmed Abu Zaid on July 2. Officials from Kuwait may also join them.

The meeting aims to follow up on the latest escalation of the current Qatari dispute, described as “the most complicated diplomatic crisis in the Middle East for many years,” Abu Zaid confirmed, “The meeting will discuss the governments’ vision regarding the current and the coming escalation.”