From NPR News, this is ALL THINGS CONSIDERED. I’m Melissa Block. Today at the Arab Summit in Riyadh, Saudi King Abdullah said lack of Arab unity is responsible for much of the trouble in the region. He also pointed to Western countries as culprits. He called for an immediate end to the economic blockade of the Palestinian territories and as NPR’s Peter Kenyon reports, King Abdullah criticized what he called the illegal foreign occupation of Iraq. PETER KENYON: Ever since he formally succeeded King Fahd in the summer of 2005, King Abdullah has quietly and cautiously promoted reform in the kingdom and a greater Saudi role in regional affairs. In hosting the first Arab summit to be held here in more than three decades, Abdullah helped arrange a number of top-level side meetings and reached out to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, who’s been largely isolated by key Arab leaders recently. When it came time to address his colleagues in public today, Abdullah didn’t miss the opportunity to deliver a clear call for Arab states to put aside internal disputes and focus on creating Arab solutions to the problems plaguing the region. Some delegates were pleased to […]