King Abdullah, Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques, left Casablanca Friday afternnon for Toronto to take part in the G20 Summit, starting Saturday. The King would conduct a series of meetings on the sidelines of the G20 summit with leaders of participating nations to discuss ways to revive the global economy, development-related issues, and Middle East affairs. Sources said that the King would hold separate meetings with Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper to boost Saudi-Canadian relations and look at other issues of mutual concern. A senior Canadian source described King Abdullah's participation in the summit as significant due to the “notable economic position of the Kingdom on the global economic map”, as well as its role in “securing peace and security in the region and its desire for stable oil prices on global markets”. Security was tight in the Ontario town, as Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper welcomed the leaders of Group of Eight leading economic powers — France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Britain, the United States and Russia — before the leaders join G20 delegates in Toronto Saturday. Group of 20 leaders and delegates will begin three days of intense meetings at Muskoka's Deerhurst Resort and a convention centre in downtown Toronto. Motorcades carrying leaders from Toronto's Pearson International Airport brought traffic on roadways to a near-standstill throughout the day on Friday. Britain's David Cameron and Japan's Naoto Kan will make their debuts as leaders at the summits, while Wayne Swan, Australia's new deputy prime minister, is expected to represent his country's new leader, Julia Gillard, following the ouster of Kevin Rudd as prime minister and leader of the ruling Labor Party. Financial reform and the economic recovery will be on the agenda at the G20 meeting in Toronto over the weekend. But unity on financial reform is proving elusive as the urgency of the financial meltdown passes. US President Barack Obama Friday called on world leaders meeting at the G20 summit to strive for financial reform, spur growth and bolster the global economy. “This weekend in Toronto I hope we can build on this progress by coordinating our efforts to promote economic growth, to pursue financial reform, and to strengthen the global economy,” Obama said. “We need to act in concert for a simple reason: This crisis proved and events continue to affirm that our national economies are inextricably linked. And just as economic turmoil in one place can quickly spread to another. Safeguards in each of our nations can help protect all nations.”
