Yemeni president discussed with King Hussein preparations for the Arab summit

The Yemeni news agency has stated that Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh returned home on Tuesday night after his meeting with King Hussein of Jordan on the occasion of the King's arrival in Jordan following lengthy medical treatment for cancer in the United States.

The agency added that President Saleh and King Hussein discussed "preparations for convening an Arab summit," which the Yemeni President called for.

The two leaders also discussed "the situation in the region, means of consolidating Arab solidarity as well as issues to be discussed during the ministerial meeting of the Arab foreign ministers on January 24.

On Sunday, the Yemeni president addressed a strong call for convening an Arab summit to be dedicated to inter-Arab reconciliation between Arab states who have been divided among themselves since the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait in 1990.

According to diplomats in Riyadh, the Gulf Cooperation Council's six member states -- Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, the UAE, Oman, Qatar and Bahrain -- oppose convening of an Arab summit in the presence of Iraq.