AL AIN // Sheikh Khalifa, President of the UAE, welcomed the Saudi foreign minister, Prince Saud al Faisal, here yesterday for a meeting to strengthen bilateral relations between the GCC countries, according to the government news agency, WAM. The two leaders "discussed the fraternal relations and ways of bolstering them in all fields", WAM reported without elaborating. The meeting comes amid tension over the UAE's recent withdrawal from the GCC monetary union following the decision to place the bloc's central bank in Riyadh, the Saudi capital.
The Saudi leader, King Abdullah, said at the time that disagreements were expected and that the terms of the monetary union would be revisited. But the Governor of the UAE's Central Bank, Sultan bin Nasser al Suwaidi, said there was no chance that this country would reconsider. The Saudi foreign minister left from Al Ain International Airport later in the day. Several high-ranking officials, including Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed, the Deputy Prime Minister and Presidential Affairs Minister, and Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed, the Foreign Minister, also attended the meeting.
* The National
