Spanish Crown Prince Felipe de Borbon held a lunch banquet in honor of Crown Prince Sultan on Friday at Palacio de Oriente. Crown Prince Sultan held extensive meetings on Friday with the Spanish leaders including Parliament president Jose Bono and Foreign Minister Miguel Angel Moratinos. Topics of mutual interests and developments in Palestine, Iraq, and Lebanon were core issues discussed in the meetings. Spanish Parliament president Jose Bono said the next era would witness more political and economic cooperation between Saudi Arabia and Spain. He reflected his country's interest in the culture of dialogue and peaceful co-existence, stressing the Kingdom's role in that regard. The relationships between Saudi Arabia and Spain are already strong and the Crown Prince's visit would take it to a new high, he said. Late Thursday Prince Sultan signed a military cooperation deal with Spanish Interior Minister Alfredo Perez Rubalcaba, standing in for Defense Minister Carme Chacon. The agreement is aimed at “developing and strengthening military cooperation” between the two countries, in particular in the fields of training and of scientific and technical cooperation. Spain's Interior Minister Alfredo Perez Rubalcaba said that his country is keen on developing security cooperation with Saudi Arabia. He said the Crown Prince's visit to Spain would strengthen the ties between the two friendly countries in different aspects. “Spain looks at the Kingdom as a key player in the Middle East in regard to security and stability of the region,” he said in a statement. Crown Prince Sultan is scheduled to meet Saturday with professors of Complutense University of Madrid, in addition to Arab ambassadors to Madrid. Saudi Finance Minister Ibrahim Al-Assaf held a meeting with Spanish counterpart Pedro Solbes Mira on Friday. The meeting came to consolidate the economic relationships between the two countries and attract more investment opportunities. “Spain was supporter of the agreement signed between the Gulf countries and European Union on establishing a free-trade zone this year,” Assaf said. Arab ambassadors to Spain reflect on the visit This visit of a key country in the international arena would powerfully serve the interest of Arab cases, said Mustafa Muhammad, the Algerian ambassador to Madrid. Mauritanian ambassador to Madrid Sidi Muhammad Abu Bakr said that the visit would help in increasing the understanding of Spain of Arab cases and would boost the culture of dialogue with the EU. “Spain holds special historical relationships with the Arab world, making us look with appreciation at its positive stands towards Arab cases,” he said. “With its heavy weight at the international level, the Crown Prince's visit to Spain carries the message of peace, tolerance, dialogue, and peaceful co-existence,” said Muhammad Abdullah, Sudanese ambassador to Spain. Crown Prince Sultan has a political charisma that would help place the Arab and Muslim cases in the Spanish politics. “Prince Sultan's visit to Spain will inaugurate a new era of more powerful relationships between the Arab world and Europe,” said Abdulrahman Kamrani, Yemeni ambassador to Spain. There are common grounds with Spain which will help stabilize the region, he added. The visit will add a strong brick to the ongoing building of relationships between Spain and the Gulf countries, said Hilal Al-Moamari, Omani ambassador to Madrid. – Okaz __
