UPDATES WITH DETAILS; REVISES HEADLINE; EDITS THROUGH
By Qais Abu Samra
RAMALLAH, Palestine (AA) – Saudi Arabia’s first ambassador on Tuesday presented a copy of credentials to Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas.
Nayef bin Bandar al-Sudairi met with the Palestinian leader at his office in Ramallah and presented a copy of his credentials as Ambassador Extraordinary, Non-Resident Plenipotentiary to the State of Palestine, and Consul General in Jerusalem, the Palestinian state news agency Wafa reported.
The Saudi diplomat arrived in the West Bank city early Tuesday via the al-Karama border crossing on a two-day visit from Jordan.
"This step will contribute to strengthening the strong brotherly relations between Palestine and Saudi Arabia and the two brotherly peoples," Abbas said.
The Saudi envoy, for his part, described his visit to the Palestinian territories as “historic”.
"This visit will be the starting point of boosting relations in all fields," al-Sudairi said.
Al-Sudairi earlier met with Palestinian Foreign Minister Riyad al-Maliki ahead of his meeting with Abbas.
Saudi Arabia "is working for the establishment of a Palestinian state with East Jerusalem as its capital,” he told reporters following the meeting.
Al-Sudairi is scheduled to meet with other Palestinian officials during his visit, including Prime Minister Mohammad Shtayyeh.
Al-Sudairi is the first Saudi ambassador to Palestine. The kingdom had a Consulate General in Jerusalem, but it was closed with Israel’s occupation of the city in 1967, when the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, was under Jordanian administration at the time.
*Writing by Ahmed Asmar in Ankara