Conflicting statements on Trump-Saudi King’s call
DEBKAfile was founded by a team of journalists in June 2000 as an independent Internet Web site, providing an intelligence and security news service. January 30, 2017, 12:09 PM (IDT)
Saudi Arabia's King Salman, in a telephone call on Sunday with US President Donald Trump, agreed to support safe zones in Syria and Yemen, and “other ideas for helping many refugees displaced by ongoing conflicts,” a White House statement said. But the initial Saudi readout of the phone call made no mention of safe zones, Yemen, where a Saudi alliance is fighting pro-Iranian rebels, or Trump’s order to put a hold on refugees from 7 terror-prone Muslim sates (not including the oil kingdom)
The Saudi Press Agency later affirmed the “depth and durability of the strategic relationship” between the two countries and backed the setting up in safe zones – but only in Syria.
A senior Saudi source said the two leaders agreed to step up counter-terrorism and military cooperation and enhance economic cooperation, and that Riyadh would step up its participation in the US-led coalition fighting to evict ISIS from Iraq and Syria.
Where the two readouts diverged again was on Iran. The White House statement said the US and Saudi leaders agreed on the need to address “Iran's destabilizing regional activities,” Whereas the Saudi Press Agency confirmed the report but made no specific mention of Iran.
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Source: http://www.debka.com/newsupdate/19825/Conflicting-statements-on-Trump-Saudi-King%E2%80%99s-call
