Saudi king calls on Arabs to unite with Egypt

Saudi Arabia’s King Abdullah has called on the Arabic community to stand together against “attempts to destabilize” Egypt. In a strong message on Saudi television on Friday, he expressed support towards Egypt’s military following confrontations between security forces and demonstrators. He said, “The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, its people and government stood and stands by today with its brothers in Egypt against terrorism”. “I call on the honest men of Egypt and the Arab and Muslim nations, to stand as one man and with one heart in the face of attempts to destabilize a country that is at the forefront of Arab and Muslim history,” he added. The Saudi kingdom was a close ally of former president Hosni Mubarak.  Historically it has had a difficult relationship with the Muslim Brotherhood party in Egypt, and pledged US $5 billion in aid after its leader Mohammed Morsi was ousted from power, in July.