CAIRO: United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon on Tuesday met with Saudi Arabia's King Abdullah Bin Abdulaziz Al-Saud, and the pair discussed a range of regional issues, according to Ban's spokesperson. “The Secretary-General and the King discussed a wide range of regional developments, including Syria, Lebanon and Yemen,” the spokesperson said in a statement. “The Secretary-General thanked the King for Saudi Arabia's support for Yemen's transition process.” The spokesperson added that at their meeting in the city of Jeddah, the Secretary-General also thanked the King for his country's support for the United Nations, in particular most recently for the UN Centre for Counter Terrorism (UNCCT). Ban arrived in Saudi Arabia on Saturday, and attended the second meeting of the UNCCT's Advisory Board the following day. The UNCCT was created in September 2010, with the support of the Government of Saudi Arabia, and seeks to support the implementation of the UN Global Counter-Terrorism Strategy, which was adopted by the General Assembly in 2006. While in Jeddah, the UN chief also met with other senior Saudi officials. In a meeting with the Minister of Petroleum and Mineral Resources, Ali bin Ibrahim Al-Naimi, the topics of Sustainable Energy for All initiative, the UN Conference on Sustainable Development (Rio+20) and Saudi Arabia's energy strategy were discussed. Ban also met with the Secretary-General of the King Abdullah International Center for Interreligious and Intercultural Dialogue, Faisal Al-Muammar; and he visited the Islamic Development Bank, where he met its Acting President, Birama Sidibe.
