RIYADH: UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon arrived in Saudi Arabia on Saturday on his first visit since King Salman acceded to the throne following last month’s death of his half-brother Abdullah.

During his two-day stay, Ban will offer his condolences over Abdullah’s death to the new monarch, the Saudi representative to the UN, Abdullah al-Muallami, was quoted as saying by the daily Asharq al-Awsat on Saturday.

He said King Salman and Ban will also discuss regional issues including the Palestinian question, the crisis in Syria and Yemen, where a Shia militia seized power on Friday.

Iraq and the struggle against “terror” are also likely to be discussed, Muallami said.

The UN chief is then due to visit the United Arab Emirates for the third Government Summit that starts on Monday.

Published in Dawn February 8th , 2015

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