By Hani Hazaimeh

AMMAN – His Majesty King Abdullah’s visit to Saudi Arabia was successful as the Saudis expressed their understanding of the economic challenges facing Jordan and pledged support for the Kingdom in the face of these challenges, Minister of Foreign Affairs Nasser Judeh said on Tuesday.

In an interview with The Jordan Times, Judeh said the primary goal of the visit was to congratulate the Saudi monarch on his safe return and recovery and to express appreciation to the Gulf kingdom for its generous support of $400 million to Jordan, nearly a month ago.

“We certainly discussed very frankly… the situation here in Jordan. The statement that came out by the Saudi royal court after the visit clearly stated the Saudi support to the Kingdom,” the minister said.

He stressed that the Saudi-Jordanian relations are historic and extremely close, adding that the Monarch personally thanked the Saudi king for his support of Jordan’s bid to joining the Gulf Cooperation Council, which was also referred to in the Saudi royal court’s statement. read more