Saudi Arabia: King Abdullah talks with Iraqi president

Iraq’s new president, Fouad Massoum, visited Riyadh on 11 November for talks with King Abdullah Bin Abdelaziz widely seen as an attempt to begin repairing relations between the two states. The relationship deteriorated significantly under Iraqi prime minister Nouri Al-Maliki, who in March went so far as to blame Saudi Arabia, as well as Qatar, for Iraq’s sectarian violence; while Massoum’s role is largely ceremonial, the 76-year-old’s soft-spoken manner may make him an effective diplomat. The state news agency SPA said Massoum and the king discussed “aspects of co-operation and ways of enhancing them between the two brotherly countries”.