Riyadh – US President Barack Obama met Gulf leaders in Saudi Arabia yesterday to push for an intensified campaign against the Islamic State group, despite strains in ties with Washington.
Making what is likely his final presidential visit to America’s historic allies, Obama posed for a summit photo with the six regional leaders, including Saudi King Salman, before beginning about four hours of talks at a royal palace.
With nine months left of his term, the president is also again seeking to reassure his Sunni allies upset over American overtures to their regional rival, Shiite Iran.
The summit comes after Washington reported progress in recent months against the Sunni extremists of IS, who seized large parts of Iraq and Syria.
Saudi Arabia and other Gulf states are part of the US-led coalition which has been carrying out air strikes against IS.
In a bid to keep up the momentum against the jihadists, Defense Secretary Ashton Carter — in Riyadh with Obama — announced on Monday that the US will send more troops and Apache attack helicopters to Iraq.