US Secretary of State Colin Powell met Tuesday with Bahrain's Crown Prince Salman bin Hamad al Khalifa to discuss the headway being made on the US-Bahrain free trade agreement, as well as other regional matters.
"It was my pleasure to receive the crown prince here this morning," Powell told reporters after the meeting.
"The United States and Bahrain have been friends for many ...years, [and the crown prince] thanked me for the support we provide to Bahrain, and I thanked him for the support Bahrain has provided to the United States."
"It really has been a strong and superb relationship for many years," Powell said, and "that continues in the work we are now doing on a free trade agreement. The first round of talks have been held, and they went... very well. And I hope that the next round will go just as quickly, so that we can conclude a free trade agreement with Bahrain in the very near future."
"We also discussed the situation in the region, as well as the Israeli-Palestinian issue," said Powell. (Albawaba.com)
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