“With love: Amman receives the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques.” That’s how one of Jordan’s biggest papers, al-Dustor, today reported the visit of Saudi Arabia’s King Salman to the country.
The King was visiting ahead of the Arab League summit which is to be held in Jordan from Wednesday. At a meeting between the two heads of state, 15 deals were reportedly signed, including one for a $3 billion joint investment fund.
The mood seemed to have been set by this picture of a Jordanian air force pilot holding up a sign welcoming King Salman as he landed in Amman:
طيار من السلاح الجوي الأردني يرحب بالملك سلمان على طريقته الخاصة#الملك_سلمان_في_عمان#حيالله_الملك_سلمان_بالاردن pic.twitter.com/lJgQz8rO1E
— فيصل بن حريز (@FaisalHuraizSKY) March 28, 2017
A pilot from the Jordanian air force welcomes King Salman in his own special way.
An Arabic-language hashtag, “God give life to King Salman in Jordan”, trended in Jordan’s capital Amman, with this user’s feelings typical of the messages posted:
#حيالله_الملك_سلمان_بالأردن
— يوسف علاونة (@yousefalawnah) March 27, 2017
السعودية وأهل السعودية وخادم الحرمين بقلوبنا
نسأل الله لكم دوام العز والخير وحي الله سلمان وشعبه وأمته
Saudi and the people of Saudi and the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques are in our hearts. We ask God to continue your greatness and blessings and long live Salman and his people and his nation.
Jordan’s King Abdullah II also took to his own Twitter to welcome the Saudi King:
أرحب اليوم بأخي الملك سلمان بن عبدالعزيز، خادم الحرمين الشريفين، في بيته وبين أهله @KingSalman
— عبدالله بن الحسين (@KingAbdullahII) March 27, 2017
Today I welcome my brother King Salman bin Abd al-Aziz, Custodian of the two holy mosques, in his home and among his people.
The Saudi investment in Jordan comes at a welcome time for the country, as its economy struggles to grow, unemployment is high, and the cost of living keeps rising.
Jordanian journalist and political analyst Osama al-Sharif wrote last year that Jordan had pivoted towards Saudi Arabia, and made a number of efforts to improve ties. Sharif wrote that Jordan’s support for Saudi’s opposition to Iran paved the way for increased financial backing of Jordan.
It was a view obviously shared by this Saudi Twitter user, who had a somewhat lighter take than others on the hashtag:
#حيالله_الملك_سلمان_بالاردن money talk pic.twitter.com/PU2vcRMgVb
— MOHA (@albiladyss11) March 27, 2017
JB
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