Biden holds talks with Saudi king, crown prince

US President Joe Biden landed yesterday in Saudi Arabia and met Crown Prince Mohamed bin Salman.Saudi state media showed images of Air Force One at the airport in the coastal city of Jeddah after a flight from Israel.The US president walked down a purple carpet and was greeted by Makkah province governor Prince Khaled al-Faisal and the ambassador to Washington, Princess Reema bint Bandar al-Saud.State television Al-Ekhbariya later showed Prince Mohamed, greeting Biden with a fist bump before escorting him into Al-Salam palace.Biden met Saudi King Salman, 86, then had a “working session” with Prince Mohamed, flanked by top officials.Biden appears ready to re-engage with Saudi Arabia - a key strategic US ally, a major supplier of oil and an avid buyer of weapons. Washington wants the world’s largest crude exporter to open the floodgates to bring down soaring oil prices, which threaten Democratic chances in November mid-term elections.After meeting with Prince Mohamed, the White House said Biden would deliver remarks later that were not initially on his schedule.Saudi Arabia has refused to join the US-brokered Abraham Accords under which Israel normalised ties with some nations in 2020. Riyadh has repeatedly said it would stick to the decades-old Arab League position of not establishing official ties with Israel until the conflict with the Palestinians is resolved. Today, Biden is due to meet Arab leaders from the six-member Gulf Co-operation Council as well as Egypt, Jordan and Iraq to discuss volatile oil prices and Washington’s role in the region. Jeddah marks the final stop on Biden’s Middle East tour, following talks yesterday with Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas and meetings with Israeli officials a day earlier. With Israeli-Palestinian peace negotiations moribund since 2014, the US delegation has been focusing on economic measures. Biden made clear on Thursday he had no plans to reverse the controversial move by Trump to recognise Jerusalem as Israel’s capital, which infuriated Palestinians who see its eastern sector as the seat of their future state. Biden was greeted in Bethlehem with a billboard reading “Justice for Shireen”, referring to Shireen Abu Akleh, the veteran Palestinian-American journalist shot dead in May while covering an Israeli army raid in the West Bank.Washington earlier this month concluded she was likely shot from an Israeli military position, but that there was no evidence of intent to kill.Saudi Crown Prince Mohamed bin Salman bumps fists with US President Joe Biden at Al-Salam Palace in the Red Sea port of Jeddah, yesterday.