Obama to hold Syria talks with mideast leaders

US President Barack Obama will meet over the next few weeks with leaders of Middle Eastern countries including Qatar, Jordan, Turkey, and UAE, in addition to U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon for talks on the situation in Syria.Obama’s talks with Ban will focus on Syria when they meet Thursday at the Oval Office, the White House said, noting that Obama will pay tribute to the sacrifices by U.N. crews to protect civilians and assist them.On April 23, Obama will meet with HH the Emir Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani to discuss “a range of mutual interests and regional issues to further strengthen our bilateral partnership,” the White House said Friday in a statement.The US president and UAE Crown Prince Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan will review the “strong and enduring ties” between the two countries and consult on mutual strategic interests in the Gulf region and the Middle East. They are scheduled to meet on April 16.Obama’s meetings with Middle Eastern leaders will carry on when he meets with Jordan’s King Abdullah II on April 26, where they are set to discuss “Jordan’s political and economic reforms, the humanitarian crisis in Syria, and additional regional issues of mutual concern,” according to a White House statement. The meeting will be their second in less than a month following an earlier one during Obama’s Middle East tour in March.Concluding the series of meetings, Obama will host Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan on May 16 for talks that will address a range of global and regional issues including Syria, trade and economic cooperation, and countering terrorism.Meanwhile, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry will visit Istanbul on Sunday, where he will review with Turkish leaders the Syrian crisis. After that, he travels to Israel on Monday and heads Tuesday to the West Bank