US President Barack Obama arrived Friday in Riyadh for talks with Saudi King Abdullah as mistrust fuelled by differences over Iran and Syria overshadows a decades-long alliance between their countries.

US President Barack Obama arrived Friday in Riyadh for talks with Saudi King Abdullah as mistrust fuelled by differences over Iran and Syria overshadows a decades-long alliance between their countries.

Obama arrived in the Saudi capital from Italy, and is expected to hold evening talks with the monarch on a royal estate outside Riyadh.