Washington, Nov 1 (IANS) Secretary of State John Kerry would visit Saudi Arabia following the kingdom’s rejection of a non-permanent seat on the UN Security Council (UNSC), the US State Department said Thursday.
Kerry would start his trip Nov 3, and meet King Abdullah in Riyadh to discuss “a wide range of bilateral and regional issues,” reported Xinhua citing the US State Department.
Saudi Arabia recently declined a non-permanent seat on the UN Security Council in protest at the failure of the world forum to end the war in Syria and resolve the Palestinian issue.
Kerry will also visit Warsaw, Jerusalem, Bethlehem, Amman, Abu Dhabi, Algiers, and Rabat during the trip, which will end Nov 11.
In Jerusalem and Bethlehem, he will meet senior Israeli and Palestinian officials to discuss the ongoing final status negotiations as well as other regional issues of mutual concern.
He will also discuss issues related to Iran with Israeli officials.