Saudi Arabia says it will host Arab and Islamic summits to discuss the Gaza conflict
SINGAPORE (Reuters) – Saudi Arabia will host summits of Arab and Islamic nations in the coming days to discuss the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, Saudi Arabia’s investment minister said on Wednesday.
“We will see Saudi Arabia convening an emergency Arab summit in Riyadh this week and in the next few days,” Saudi Investment Minister Khalid Al-Falih said at the Bloomberg New Economy Forum in Singapore.
“In a few days you will see Saudi Arabia convening an Islamic summit,” he said.
“In the short term, the goal of holding these three summits and other meetings led by Saudi Arabia is to advance a peaceful resolution to the conflict.”
Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi will travel to Saudi Arabia on Sunday for the Organization of Islamic Cooperation summit, Etemadonline news reported. It was the first visit by an Iranian head of state since Tehran and Riyadh ended years of hostilities under a China-brokered deal in March.
Falih also said Saudi Arabia would convene a summit with African nations, without giving a date. Late Tuesday, the Saudi Arabian Foreign Ministry said in a statement that the meeting scheduled for the weekend would be postponed to focus on the other two summits.
(Reporting by Tom Westbrook. Additional reporting by Maha El Dahan in Dubai. Editing by Shri Navaratnam)
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