BBC: David Cameron in talks with Saudi king



David Cameron has visited Saudi Arabia, for the first time as prime minister.

He met King Abdullah and Crown Prince Nayef in Riyadh for talks which No 10 hopes will "broaden and deepen" the UK-Saudi relationship.

One of the main aims of the trip was to establish a personal relationship between the PM and the Saudi king.

Saudi Arabia is the UK's largest trading partner in the Middle East with annual trade worth £15bn a year. It has £62bn invested in the UK economy.

Mr Cameron is travelling without UK reporters - which is unusual on a foreign trip - but Foreign Secretary William Hague insisted the visit was "not furtive".

Arms sales
Both the UK and Saudi Arabia are hoping to forge a new strategic partnership in energy, business and security.

A Saudi official told the BBC the leaders would discuss sales of the latest technology and weaponry, and making Britain a major part of a massive Saudi military expansion.

On Thursday, MPs on the committee on arms export controls published questions it had submitted to the government about British arms sales to Saudi Arabia.

The committee asked why, when there was unrest in the country in 2011, licences for a range of equipment had not been revoked.

"Why does the UK believe that the assurances relating to end-use will not be breached?," the committee asked.