Obama, Saudi King Abullah discuss Islamic State strategy
The two leaders agreed on the training and equipping the moderate Syrian opposition in the fight against the extremist group.
WASHINGTON
U.S. President Barack Obama called Saudi Arabian King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz to discuss the threat posed by the Islamic State terror group in the region, ahead of his national address where he is expected to lay out a strategy to fight the insurgent group.
"The president and the king agreed on the need for increased training and equipping of the moderate Syrian opposition, consistent with the proposal that President Obama has made to the United States Congress," said a White House statement.
Both leaders also agreed that a stronger Syrian opposition is essential to confronting IS and other extremist, including the regime of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.
According to the statement, Obama thanked King Abdullah for hosting U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry in Jeddah for a meeting with the Gulf Cooperation Council, Iraq, Jordan, Egypt, Lebanon, and Turkey, as a part of the efforts to build a regional and international coalition to counter the militants.
Obama and Abdullah also discussed developments in Yemen where unrest between the government and the opposition Shia Houthi movement has continued since former President Ali Abdullah Saleh left office under the terms of a "transition agreement" brokered by the Gulf Cooperation Council in November 2011.
The leaders reiterated their shared commitment to support President Abdurabbu Mansour Hadi and the Yemeni government in achieving a sustainable resolution to the current tensions with the Houthi movement within the framework of the GCC Initiative transition process.
