Saudi king agrees to support Syria, Yemen safe zones

Saudi Arabia's King Salman bin Abd al-Aziz Al Saud, in a telephone call on Sunday with US President Donald Trump, agreed to support safe zones in Syria and Yemen, a White House statement said.

Trump, during his presidential campaign last year, had called for Gulf states to pay for establishing safe zones to protect Syrian refugees.

A statement after the phone call said the two leaders agreed on the importance of strengthening joint efforts to fight the spread of Islamic State militants.

"The President requested, and the King agreed, to support safe zones in Syria and Yemen, as well as supporting other ideas to help the many refugees who are displaced by the ongoing conflicts," the statement said.

Turkey and the US had been negotiating the creation of safe zones and the enforcement of no-fly zones in Syria. Not gaining ground after talks with the Obama administration, Turkey last year launched Operation Euphrates Shield, a military incursion into Syria, to remove terrorist groups from their borders and keep illegal immigration under control.

They also agreed on the need to address "Iran's destabilising regional activities," the statement said.

Both countries share views about Iranian policies in the region, the Saudi source said, suggesting Trump agreed with Riyadh's suspicion of what it sees as Tehran's growing influence in the Arab world. Iran denies it meddles in Arab countries.

The White House statement said the two also discussed what it called an invitation from the king for Trump "to lead a Middle East effort to defeat terrorism and to help build a new future, economically and socially," for Saudi Arabia and the region.

The two also discussed the Muslim Brotherhood, the senior Saudi source told Reuters news agency, adding in a reference to the late al Qaeda leader, "it was mentioned that Osama bin Laden was recruited at an early stage" by the organisation.

Egypt, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates designated the Brotherhood a terrorist organisation. Riyadh fears the Brotherhood, whose Sunni Islamist doctrines challenge the Saudi principle of dynastic rule, has tried to build support inside the kingdom since the Arab Spring revolutions.