Monday, November 04, 2013

Hamlet Without Polonius


Saudi Press Agency --

Riyadh, Muharram 1, 1435, Nov 4, 2013, SPA -- The Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz Al Saud received at his palace here today U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry and the accompanying delegation. At the outset of the audience, the U.S. Secretary of State conveyed to the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques greetings of U.S. President Barack Obama. In turn, the King sent his greetings to the U.S. President. Then, they discussed aspects of cooperation between the two countries, the developments of the Palestinian cause and the situation in Syria in addition to the regional and international latest developments and the two countries' stances towards them. The audience was attended by Crown Prince Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, Deputy Premier and Minister of Defense; Prince Saud Al-Faisal, Minister of Foreign Affairs; Prince Muqrin bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, Second Deputy Premier, Special Envoy of and Advisor to the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques; Prince Meteb bin Abdullah bin Abdulaziz, Minister of National Guard; Prince Mohammed bin Naif bin Abdulaziz, Minister of Interior; Prince Abdulaziz bin Abdullah bin Abdulaziz, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs; Prince Mohammed bin Salman bin Abdulaziz, Chief of the Crown Prince's Court and Special Advisor to the Crown Prince; Adel bin Ahmad Al-Jubeir, Saudi ambassador to the United States, and Timothy Lenderking, U.S. Charge D'affaires in Riyadh. --SPA

One person is conspicuously absent from that list of attendees: Prince Bandar bin Sultan, who has been leading the rhetorical charge against the US hands-off policy on Syria.

A side note about the meeting. Note that King Abdullah had no objection to an unveiled female interpreter.

Photo: SPA.