JEDDAH, July 15 — The Yang di-Pertuan Agong Al-Sultan Abdullah Ri’ayatuddin Al-Mustafa Billah Shah has departed for home after a successful three-day special visit to Saudi Arabia.
His Majesty was received by the Governor of Jeddah Prince Mishaal bin Majed bin AbdulAziz at the Royal Terminal of King Abdulaziz International Airport here followed by a brief meeting before departing in a special aircraft at 8pm local time Sunday (1am Malaysia time Monday).
Accompanying His Majesty in the aircraft were his son Tengku Amir Nasser, Foreign Minister Datuk Saifuddin Abdullah and Foreign Ministry secretary-general Datuk Seri Muhammad Shahrul Ikram.
Earlier yesterday, in an audience with Saudi Arabia’s King Salman Abdulaziz Al-Saud, Sultan Abdullah among others had expressed his gratitude and satisfaction over the visit.
The inaugural visit of Sultan Abdullah as the Yang di-Pertuan Agong was at the invitation of King Salman himself to further strengthen the fraternal bond which existed since 1957.
Sultan Abdullah accompanied by the delegation arrived in Saudi Arabia on Friday for a three-day special visit.
His Majesty’s itinerary began with his arrival in Medina, where Sultan Abdullah visited the tomb of Prophet Muhammad at Nabawi Mosque and performed Friday prayers before departing for Jeddah on Saturday and completing Umrah in Makkah on the same day.
Meanwhile, Saifuddin when asked to comment on the visit before departing with His Majesty said the main objective of the visit was to hold an audience with King Salman which took place today.
“In the meeting, Agong expressed his gratitude to the Saudi Arabian government which has given us so much privileges in terms of haj quota and Malaysia is among the first countries selected by Saudi Arabia to use e-clearance which began in 2017.
“The meeting is very symbolic of the close ties existing between the two countries,” he said. — Bernama
