Saudi king upset over scandalous rumors

From the Saudi Gazette:

An official source has categorically denied some news agency reports quoting US Foreign Ministry Undersecretary William Burns that King Abdullah, Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques, had greeted Israeli President Shimon Peres on the sidelines of the UN Cultures for Peace Conference in New York last November.

The statement made by Burns was false, baseless and untrue, emphasized the source.

The source also demanded the US Foreign Ministry to deny the news and issue an explanation and clarification to this misleading news report which will not serve the good relations between the two friendly countries.

From the vehemence of the denials, one would think that he was denying rumors that Abdullah raped a small boy.

Apparently, to the Arabs, greeting an 85-year old ceremonial leader of the Jewish state is just as bad.

And, yes, the name of the conference was indeed the Cultures for Peace Conference.

By the way,

Peres and King Abdullah did not shake hands or speak privately at the conference, though much ado was made in the press about the fact that they sat in the same room. This was the first time Abdullah remained in his seat while an Israeli leader spoke.