President Barack Obama arrived in Saudi Arabia on Wednesday on a Middle East mission featuring a historic address to the Muslim world and a new US drive to invigorate regional peacemaking.Obama flew in aboard Air Force One to a red carpet welcome ahead of talks with King Abdullah as he seeks backing for an emerging US strategy of binding Arab states into a wider search for Israeli-Palestinian peace and to defuse regional tensions.He will then travel on Thursday to Egypt, another pillar of the Arab world, to deliver a personal appeal for reconciliation to the world's 1.5 billion Muslims, and hold his first talks with Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak.King Abdullah has been seeking to relaunch a 2002 Arab-backed Middle East peace initiative, which has been praised by the Obama administration.But it was unclear whether Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's tough stand on settlements would scupper US hopes of convincing the Arab world to make concessions towards Israel to inject momentum into the process.Obama signalled in an interview with National Public Radio before leaving Washington that he would keep pressing Israel on the issue, despite an emerging rift between the two close allies."I've said very clearly to the Israelis both privately and publicly that a freeze on settlements including natural growth is part of those obligations."The Saudi initiative calls for full normalisation of relations between Arab states and Israel, a full withdrawal by Israel from Arab land, the creation of a Palestinian state and an "equitable" solution for Palestinian refugees.Obama was also expected to use the talks with King Abdullah, whose country is OPEC's top exporter, to push for stability in oil prices and production.
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