Riyadh, Safar 02, 1439, October 22, 2017, SPA -- The Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud and Prime Minister Dr. Haider Al-Abbadi of Republic of Iraq inaugurated at Al-Yamamah palace here today the first meeting of Saudi-Iraqi Coordination Council in the presence of United States Secretary of State Rex Tillerson. The King delivered a speech in which he said, " We are pleased to welcome you all in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, thanking Dr. Haider Al-Abbadi for accepting our invitation and attending the first meeting of the Saudi-Iraqi Coordination Council. We also thank the Secretary of State for attending this meeting which reflects the attention being paid by President Donald Trump and the American Administration to the common interests between the United States of America, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and the sisterly Republic of Iraq. We confront in our region serious challenges of extremism, terrorism and attempts to destabilize security and stability in our countries which necessitate our full coordination to confront these challenges. As we congratulate our brothers in Iraq on the achievements made in eradicating and defeating terrorism, in which the coalition being led by the friendly United States of America participated as well as the Kingdom and sisterly and friendly countries are participating, we affirm our support for Iraq's unity and stability, hoping to address the differences inside the Iraqi house through dialogue and within the framework of the Iraqi constitution. Our presence today reflects the interest of all in this Council and the hopes we attach on it for developing and strengthening relations between our two peoples and sisterly countries in all fields. The great potentials available to our two countries provide us with a historic opportunity to build an effective partnership to achieve our common aspirations. What binds us to sisterly Iraq is not just neighborliness and common interests, but the ties of fraternity, blood, history and one destiny. We all look forward that the Council's meetings contribute to proceeding to further and broader prospects, and its works will be followed up from me personally and the Iraqi Prime Minister. We pray to Allah Almighty to help us all for the good of our two countries, Arab and Islamic nations and the world at large. --More 16:06 LOCAL TIME 13:06 GMT www.spa.gov.sa/w518011