Jeddah

03 June 2012

Readouts of the Secretary-General's bilateral meetings in Saudi Arabia

Ban Ki-Moon, Former Secretary-General

The Secretary-General had a range of meetings with Saudi ministers while in Jeddah for a meeting today of the Advisory Board of the UN Counter-Terrorism Centre.

In his meeting with the Saudi Defence Minister, H.R.H. Prince Salman bin Abdel Aziz, the Secretary-General discussed a range of regional matters.

The Secretary-General met H.R.H. Prince Saud Al-Faisal, the Saudi Foreign Minister. They discussed Syria, Yemen and regional issues. The Secretary-General thanked the Minister for Saudi Arabia's generous support for the UN Counter-Terrorism Centre. On Syria, the Secretary-General said he was greatly concerned about the level of violence in the country and about developments in Tripoli, Lebanon. He said he was thankful for Saudi support to keep the transition in Yemen on track.

The Secretary-General also met H.R.H Prince Mohammed Bin Naif Bin Abdulaziz, the Deputy Interior Minister for Security Affairs. They discussed Saudi Arabia's work on counter-terrorism.

There was also a separate meeting between the Secretary-General and the Secretary-General of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation at the Organization's headquarters in Jeddah. They discussed boosting cooperation between the two organizations and shared views on developments in Syria, the wider Middle East region and the Sahel region in Africa.