US Congressman and Speaker of the House J. Dennis Hastert (Republican-Illinois) has taken a step toward strengthening the relationship with the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia by inviting members of the Shoura Council to visit the US and attend some Congressional sessions. The invitation is considered the first in the Saudi-American cooperative history, Saudi Gazette reported today. Hastert 's invitation was delivered to the head of the Shoura Council, Dr. Saleh Bin Humaid, by a group of Congressional members who arrived to the Kingdom with several American businessmen. The cooperation is not intended to be limited to political issues only, it also covers commercial cooperation, said Abdulrahmaan Al-Segayer, head of public affairs department at the Shoura Council. Saudi businessmen have sent a previous invitation to their American counterparts to encourage them to have an idea and invest in the Saudi market. The specifics of the proposed visit have not been determined, he said. But he said it would certainly tackle issues such as strengthening Saudi-US anti-terror cooperation efforts and continuing to support the relationships between the two countries. --MORE 1200 Local Time 0900 GMT
