RIYADH (AFP) – Saudi King Abdullah held talks here on the situation in the Middle East and in Iraq with visiting Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf, the official SPA news agency said.

Bilateral relations between the two countries were also discussed, it said.

Musharraf, on the first leg of a tour of five Arab states, arrived in the kingdom on Saturday and performed the rites of the minor pilgrimage — Omra — in the holy cities of Mecca and Medina.

“The Palestinian question, the situation in Iraq” and bilateral cooperation were all on the agenda during Sunday’s talks, SPA said.

After his meeting with the king, Musharraf flew to Egypt where he will hold talks on Monday with President Hosni Mubarak in the Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheikh.

The Pakistani president will also visit Jordan, Syria and the United Arab Emirates during his Middle East tour.

Saudi Arabia and Pakistan are both allies of the United States. In April last year during a visit to Islamabad by Saudi Crown Prince Sultan bin Abdul Aziz, both countries renewed their commitment to fighting terrorism.

They also pledged to boost economic cooperation — Saudi Arabia is the main supplier of petroleum products to Pakistan.

Before Musharraf embarked on his tour, the foreign ministry in Islamabad said he would discuss with the leaders of the five countries the “grave situation in the Middle East and the dangers facing the Islamic world”.

Citing Palestinan-Israeli tensions and the situation in Iraq and Lebanon, the foreign ministry said circumstances call for a “strong political and diplomatic initiative on the part of the Muslim countries.”