Middle East and North Africa

Saudi Arabia
Last reviewed: 20 August 2009

Country information

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INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS

Saudi Arabia's Relations with Neighbours & the International Community

Saudi Arabia plays a critical role in the region. King Abdullah’s Beirut declaration (2002), known as the Arab Peace Initiative (API), was a landmark, and remains important to the search for peace. The declaration was endorsed in March 2007 at an Arab League Summit in Riyadh and re-confirmed by the Arab League in 2008. In December 2008, the Arab League wrote to President – elect Obama reiterating their support for the API and urging Obama to engage in the peace process. The Saudi’s played an important role in bringing this about. King Abdullah also brokered the Mecca Agreement forming a Palestinian National Unity Government in February 2007. Saudi Arabia is committed to ensuring that the issue of Palestine remains a priority to the international community.

Saudi Arabia supports the political process in Iraq and is a strong supporter of national unity there. Saudi Arabia has a critical role to play in supporting the Iraqi Prime Minister Maliki's broad-based government, including through the International Compact and border security. The Saudis fully recognise that the success of the revised Baghdad Security Plan is critical not only to Iraq’s, but to the whole region’s future stability. Furthermore, Saudi Arabian Foreign Minister Prince Saud declared that Saudi Arabia is committed to cutting Iraqi debt.

Saudi Arabia remains concerned about instability in Lebanon, which is a risk for the whole region and has repeatedly called for a political solution to the country’s problems. Saudi Arabia is a significant investor in Lebanon and is the largest single donor to the reconstruction effort.

In 1981, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates established the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), a forum for economic and political policy coordination.

Saudi Arabia is a vital partner to the UK in our global counter terrorism efforts. The Saudi government stands firm against terrorism and is determined to take action against terrorists. It has a record of condemning acts of terrorism. The Saudi royal family was swift to condemn the terrorist attacks of 11 September 2001, and were one of the first countries to offer help to the UK after 7 July attacks Saudi Arabia has also suffered from terrorism. Al Qaeda represents as much of a threat to Saudi Arabia as it does to us.

Cultural Relations with the UK

The UK and Saudi Arabia have a number of cultural and educational links. The British Council has an important English language and vocational training scheme in Saudi Arabia. The number of Saudi students at UK universities continues to grow. In the academic year 2007/8 12,000 Saudi students attended UK universities on Saudi government scholarships and this number is likely to increase in 2009.

As King Abdullah’s title, ‘Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques’ suggests, Saudi Arabia is home to the two most important sites in Islam; Mecca and Medina. Every year millions of Muslims travel to Saudi Arabia to perform the Hajj and Umrah pilgrimages. In 1999, the UK became the first predominantly Christian country to organise an official Hajj delegation to assist the 20,000 British pilgrims. It included members of the Foreign and Commonwealth Office and volunteers from the Muslim community. This has been repeated every year since then.

British Council: Saudi Arabia