Kerry Meets Saudi Leaders to Ease Tensions

John Kerry meets Saudi Foreign Minster, Prince Saud Al-Faisal

AL JAZEERA: Secretary of State lands in Riyadh, his second stop on a Middle East tour that has become an exercise in damage control.

United States Secretary of State John Kerry arrived in Saudi Arabia hoping to repair ties with America's longstanding ally, which have frayed over the Syrian conflict and US outreach to Iran.

Kerry was greeted on Sunday night in Riyadh by Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Saud Al-Faisal bin Abdulaziz al-Saud.

The top US diplomat is already on his second stop of an 11-day trip which has become an exercise in damage control, as regional turbulence stirs tensions with longtime US partners.

Saudi Arabia, locked in a decades-long rivalry with Iran, is concerned that proposed Syrian peace talks could leave a Tehran-backed government in Damascus and that a breakthrough in nuclear negotiations could see US-Iranian relations restored. » | Source: AFP | Sunday, November 03, 2013