RIYADH, March 25: Hamas leader Khaled Meshaal arrived in Saudi Arabia on Sunday to discuss a Saudi request that the Islamist group give full backing to an Arab peace plan with Israel, a senior Palestinian official said.

Saudi Arabia and other US-allied Arab states want to re-launch an initiative offering the Jewish state normal ties in return for land at an Arab League summit in Riyadh on Wednesday.

Meshaal's visit is the second to Saudi Arabia in a week ahead of the Arab summit. Meshaal met King Abdullah and other Saudi officials on Tuesday, as part of a tour to drum up support for a new Palestinian unity government led by Hamas.

The government, which includes Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas's Western-backed Fatah faction, wants the Arab summit to back it in the face of US and Israeli attempts to boycott Hamas cabinet members.

The Palestinian official said Saudi Arabia last week asked Meshaal, the Damascus-based leader of Hamas, to give full support to the Arab peace initiative.

The official said Meshaal had promised to consider the request by Saudi Arabia, a key US ally that is leading Arab diplomatic efforts to bring about an end to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.—Reuters