Karazai starts in Saudi Arabia a Gulf tour

Afghanistan's President Hameed Karazai started on Friday in Saudi Arabia a Gulf tour which covers Qatar and the United Arab Emirates and aims at getting economic support for his government.

The Saudi news agency said that the Saudi officials welcomed Karazai who is accompanied by several ministers upon his arrival at Jeddah airport.

This is, however, Karazai's first visit to Saudi Arabia since he came to power in 2001. Just two weeks ago Saudi Arabia joined the US and Japan in the commitment to provide 50 million dollars for reconstruction of the highways in Afghanistan. A project which costs 250 million dollars.