Afghan president Ghani on Saudi visit: media

Afghanistan's new President Ashraf Ghani performed a pilgrimage in Saudi Arabia and held talks with the oil-rich kingdom's crown prince on his first foreign trip, local media reported today.

Ghani was sworn in last month after a prolonged political stand-off over the results of a fraud-tainted presidential election.

In talks today with Crown Prince Salman bin Abdul Aziz, the two sides "reviewed prospects for cooperation between the two brotherly countries", and discussed regional and global developments, the official Saudi Press Agency said without elaborating.

Local newspapers on Sunday published photographs of Ghani performing a pilgrimage and praying in the Muslim holy city of Medina, western Saudi Arabia.
 

Ghani's office last Tuesday announced that the president would also be heading to China this week for three days.