Basha lobbies for Kosovo in Saudi Arabia

TIRANA, Feb 16 – Albanian Foreign Minister Lulzim Basha made a visit to Saudi Arabia to promote bilateral ties and also lobby on Kosovo.
Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz Al Saud received Basha at the Royal Court of Yamama Palace.
Basha conveyed the greetings and appreciation of the Albanian President and the Prime Minister to the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques.
Basha also met with his Saudi counterpart Prince Saud Al Faisal Bin Abdulaziz Al-Saud.
Albanian businessmen and representatives of the Albanian chambers of commerce also discussed further cooperation with their Saudi counterpart.
Basha also met with Organization of the Islamic Conference’s Secretary General Ekmeledin Ihsanoglu urging him to promote Kosovo’s recognition at the organization, officials of the Islamic Bank for Development that has or is investing some $100 million in different infrastructure and other projects.
The ministry reported that Saudi Arabia had confirmed it would soon recognize Kosova as an independent state.
Kosovo has been recognized by 54 countries but few from the OIC.
An Albanian Muslim organization held a referendum and sent more than 50,000 signatures to the OIC urging its member countries to recognize Kosovo.