UN, Saudi meeting 'very positive'

POSITIVE DIALOGUE: Saudi King Abdullah (right) welcomes UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon in Jeddah. Ban and King Abdullah reached common ground on the need to tackle rising prices of oil and food, and the problem of climate change, a UN spokesman said. (AFP)

UN chief Ban Ki-moon and Saudi King Abdullah reached common ground on Saturday on the need to tackle rising prices of oil and food, and the problem of climate change, a UN spokesman said.

The UN secretary general flew into the Red Sea city earlier Saturday for a 24-hour visit and met with the king for one hour after being welcomed by Saudi Foreign Minister Saud Al-Faisal.

Farhan Haq, a member of Ban's delegation, described the discussions as "very positive."

One one of the main issues raised was "the related crisis involving rising food costs, rising fuel costs and climate change," he said.

The two leaders agreed that the three issues "should be dealt with comprehensively," he added.

He restated Ban's view that "rising fuels costs can contribute also further to rising food costs."

He added: "What you want to avoid is a cascade of these sort of challenges that affect a wide range of social and economic sectors and then start also creating political problems."

There was no word from the Saudi side on what was discussed.

Haq could not confirm press reports that Riyadh was planning to hike its crude production next month by about a half a million barrels per day (bpd) to calm market jitters.

But Ban, on his second visit to Saudi Arabia since March 2007, expressed hope that a Saudi-hosted meeting of oil producers and consumers here on June 22 would yield a productive outcome.

The king invited Ban in an apparent bid by the kingdom to burnish its international image as a responsible oil power at a time when it is facing criticism, particularly in the US, over skyrocketing crude prices.

Saudi Arabia, by far OPEC's biggest oil producer and exporter, decided to convene the June 22 meeting talks after crude struck a record high of nearly 140 dollars last week, stoking fears of surging global inflation and weaker economic growth.

Reports on Friday suggested that the oil giant - which currently produces 9.45 million bpd - could decide to raise its crude production to 10 million bpd when it hosts the meeting next week.

The New York Times linked the expected plan to what it said were fears by Saudi Arabia that soaring oil prices might trigger a worldwide economic slump and lead to lower oil demand.

Last month, Saudi Arabia announced an increase of 300,000 bpd after a visit by US President George W. Bush, but the kingdom has been under pressure to step up its output further.

After Riyadh announced the June 22 meeting, US Senator Charles Schumer, the lead sponsor of a resolution in Congress to block four pending arms deals with the Saudis, said: "We don't need a meeting. We need to pump more oil."

Ban's visit to Saudi Arabia also comes as Group of Eight finance ministers warned in Japan that high oil and food prices posed "a serious challenge to stable growth worldwide" and may worsen poverty and stoke global inflation.

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