Saudi Arabia’s King Salman and crown prince congratulate US president-elect Biden

RIYADH: Saudi Arabia’s King Salman and Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman on Sunday congratulated Joe Biden on winning the US presidential election.
They wished him success and further progress and prosperity for the American people, Saudi Press Agency said in a statement.
The king and the crown prince also congratulated Vice President-elect Kamala Harris on her post.
King Salman “praised the distinct close historical relations existing between the two friendly countries,” which both sides seek to strengthen and develop in all fields.

The crown prince offered his sincere congratulations and best wishes for health and happiness to Biden, and hoped for “further progress and advancement” for the American people.

Heads of state from the GCC countries and leaders from the Arab world and elsewhere also offered their congratulations.

President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi said Egypt looked forward to “strengthening strategic bilateral ties between Egypt and the US in the interest of both countries and peoples.”

King Abdullah of Jordan said: “I look forward to working with you on further advancing the solid historic partnership between Jordan and the US, in the interest of our shared objectives of peace, stability and prosperity.”

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas called on Biden to strengthen relations between the Palestinians and Washington.

Biden, who turns 78 on Nov. 20, is the oldest person ever to be elected to the White House. Harris, the junior senator from California, is the first woman, first South Asian and African-American person to be elected vice president.

In the US, Republican former President George W. Bush said he had spoken with Biden and congratulated him on his victory.

“Though we have political differences, I know Joe Biden to be a good man, who has won his opportunity to lead and unify our country,” Bush said. “The American people can have confidence that this election was fundamentally fair, its integrity will be upheld, and its outcome is clear.”

After attending church in Wilmington, Delaware, Biden and his family visited the church’s cemetery, where his son Beau and other relatives are buried.

Biden has said he plans to sign executive orders repealing a ban on travelers from several Muslim-majority nations, rejoining the Paris climate accord, reversing Donald Trump’s withdrawal from the World Health Organization and buttressing a program protecting immigrants brought to the US illegally as children.

A Biden adviser said he intends to follow through on these plans soon after taking office. Biden clinched Pennsylvania on Saturday to put him over the threshold of 270 Electoral College votes needed to secure the US presidency, ending four days of suspense.

“The people of this nation have spoken. They have delivered us a clear victory, a convincing victory,” Biden said.