His trip followed a series of laudatory comments towards the new administration from Saudi Arabia, whose relations were increasingly frayed under former president Barack Obama. Trump “recognises the Saudi leadership as the primary conduit to the Muslim world,” said Salman al-Ansari, president of the Saudi American Public Relation Affairs Committee (SAPRAC). Leaders in Sunni-dominated Saudi Arabia have welcomed the Trump administration's views toward their regional rival Iran. Saudi Arabia has for two years led an Arab military coalition assisting the Yemeni government against Iran-backed insurgents. The US and Saudi Arabia have a decades-old relationship based on the exchange of American security for Saudi oil.

Source: Sunday Times March 16, 2017 12:33 UTC