"Longstanding friendship" hailed as King meets Obama

WASHINGTON: Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Salman met with US President Barack Obama for a first and long-delayed White House summit Friday, marked by warm public words amid clashing views on Middle Eastern crises.
Obama made the rare move of greeting the king at the doors of the White House, as he hailed the "longstanding friendship" between the two countries.
Salman's inaugural visit as king has been billed as a way of putting relations back on a more stable footing.
In the Oval Office, Obama was effusive, saying he wanted to "once again reaffirm not only our personal friendship, but the deep and abiding friendship between our two people."
For his part Salman said his visit was a "symbol of the deep and strong relationship that we have with the United States."
"This is obviously a challenging time in world affairs, particularly in the Middle East," Obama said, saying the pair would discuss a "wide range of issues."
Obama said the two sides "share concerns" about the need to restore a functioning government in Yemen and relieve an urgent humanitarian crisis.
Obama also said that the pair "share concerns about the crisis in Syria and will have the opportunity to discuss how we can arrive at a political transition process within Syria that can... end the horrific conflict there."
Ahead of the meeting senior Obama foreign policy aide Ben Rhodes said the White House wants to make sure both countries "have a common view" on which Syrian opposition groups get support.