US Secretary of State John Kerry Meets With Saudi Arabian King Abdullah

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry meets with Saudi Arabia's King Abdullah (R) in Riyadh, November 4, 2013. REUTERS-Jason Reed

Kerry Tries To Soothe Relations With Saudi Arabia But Tensions Evident -- Reuters

(Reuters) - Secretary of State John Kerry met King Abdullah on Monday and praised the U.S. alliance with Saudi Arabia as strategic and enduring, but strains in the nearly 70-year-old relationship were apparent over Syria and other issues.

Kerry visited the Gulf oil power on a mission to soothe disagreements that also extend to U.S. policy on Iran, Egypt and the Palestinian issue, but despite a public show of friendship, big differences remained.

The visit is the first since Saudi anger boiled over at the U.S. decision not to bomb Syria in the wake of a chemical weapons attack on the outskirts of Damascus in August. A senior prince said at that time that Riyadh was contemplating a "major shift" away from Washington.

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More News On US Secretary of State John Kerry Meeting Saudi Arabian King Abdullah

Kerry, King Abdullah meet to ease U.S.-Saudi Arabia tensions -- UPI
Kerry Meets Saudi King to Smooth Relations -- New York Times
John Kerry Saudi visit is 'damage limitation' for US -- BBC
Saudi minister plays down policy differences with U.S. -- Reuters
Kerry Says US, Saudis Ties 'Enduring' -- Voice of America
Kerry says U.S.-Saudi ties strategic, enduring -- Reuters
Kerry, Saudis say no major rift despite policy differences on Syria, Egypt, Iran -- Washington Post

My Comment: If U.S. - Saudi relations were OK .... Secretary of State John Kerry would not be meeting King Abdullah today. The truth is that relations have hit bottom .... and the Saudis are too important to be ignored.