Saudi King to Meet Syrian, Egyptian Leaders on Wednesday

Source: Al-Manar TV, 10-3-2009

Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and his Egyptian counterpart Hosni Mubarak are to visit Riyadh on Wednesday for talks with Saudi King Abdullah, the official SPA news agency announced on Tuesday. "Bilateral relations... and ways of strengthening them in various fields in addition to regional and international issues of common concern" will be on the agenda, according to SPA.

It did not confirm that a three-way summit would be held, as reported by newspapers in the region, stating only that the Saudi monarch would meet Mubarak and Assad.
Saudi media have reported that Riyadh will this week host a mini-summit of the leaders of Egypt, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and Syria.

Well-informed sources earlier told Al-Manar that a Syrian-Saudi summit would take place within 48 hours in the Saudi capital Riyadh. According to the sources, the summit, which would be the first of its kind since the year 2005, would join the Syrian President Bachar al-Assad and the Saudi King Abdullah bin Abdul Aziz.

The sources noted that the upcoming summit would contribute in securing the success factors for the Doha Summit. The sources explained that the Riyadh Summit would pave the way for the Doha summit to take important decisions in order to face the current challenges.

Qatar said on Sunday that Arab mini-summit would be held to prepare the ground for a gathering of Arab leaders on March 30, which the pan-Arab newspaper Al-Hayat said was aimed at bringing "an end to the era of Arab disputes."