Saudi King Abdullah arrives for historic meeting with pope

ROME (AFP) — King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia arrived Monday in Rome for an audience with Pope Benedict XVI, the first between a Saudi monarch and a leader of the Roman Catholic Church.

Foreign Minister Saud al-Faisal came to Rome in September to pave the way for the visit, the third leg of a European tour that has taken the 84-year-old monarch to London and Geneva.
The meeting with the pope is set for 12:30 pm (1130 GMT) on Tuesday.

The Holy See and Saudi Arabia do not have diplomatic ties, but King Abdullah met Benedict's predecessor John Paul II in 1999 when he was crown prince to his half brother King Fahd. the rest