Kerry arrives in Saudi for talks on Syria, Yemen wars

March 12, 2016 03:49

US Secretary of State John Kerry landed today at a sprawling military facility in northeastern Saudi Arabia where the kingdom just finished a three-week-long counter-terrorism drill that included 20 nations and which observers say was a show of force against its foes.

Kerry touched down at the King Khalid Military City near the town of Hafr al-Batin in the desert, south of the Iraqi and Kuwaiti border. He is later in the evening to have an audience with King Salman, followed by talks and a working dinner with Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Nayef and Foreign Minister Adel al-Jubeir.

His visit came as the kings of Bahrain and Jordan joined Pakistan's prime minister, Abu Dhabi's crown prince, Qatar's emir and the Saudi king for a parade and airshow marking the end of the military exercise, dubbed "Northern Thunder." The drill focused on how to coordinate combat operations and guerrilla warfare tactics among the Muslim-majority countries that are members of a larger counter-terrorism alliance announced by the kingdom in December.

It also comes amid heightened tensions between Saudi Arabia and its regional Shiite rival Iran as they back opposite sides of the wars in Syria and Yemen. Yesterday, state media reported that Saudi Arabia was building a new air base to protect the kingdom's airspace in Hafr al-Batin.

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