King Abdullah, Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques, received telephone calls Friday from US President Barack Obama and US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. The discussions covered “developments in the Middle East, regional and international issues of mutual concern and Saudi-US relations,” the Saudi Press Agency reported. Also reviewed were “the firm and distinguished relations binding the two countries and ways of enhancing them in all fields so as to serve the interests of the two friendly countries and peoples,” SPA said. The telephone calls further demonstrate the Obama administration's Middle East focus. Obama had plunged straight into the Middle East conflict on his first day in office on Wednesday, by calling Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas first, and then Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak, Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and Jordan's King Abdullah II . On Thursday, Obama named former Northern Ireland peacemaker George Mitchell to serve as Middle East envoy and former Ambassador Richard Holbrooke, who mediated the Dayton Accords that ended violence in Bosnia, as envoy to Afghanistan and Pakistan.
