No bow for the Saudi King this time

President Obama arrived in the Saudi capital Wednesday afternoon and was greeted King Abdullah with a hand shake and a nod of the head, forgoing the bow that Mr. Obama controversially gave the King back in April at their first meeting.

Neither did the King hold Mr. Obama's hand, as he did with former President George W. Bush during the King's visit to Mr. Bush's Texas ranch.

Despite the 108 degree temperature in Riyadh, the 84 year old king awaited Mr. Obama on the tarmac - a show of hospitality reserved for special guests. As the two men greeted, a 21 gun salute went off in the vicinity. And after a review of the troops, the two men greeted each others' delegations in a gazebo protecting them from the sun's strong rays, but then proceeded inside the airport terminal to share a cup of Arabian coffee.

Earlier this year in London, Mr. Obama was criticized for greeting the Saudi royal with a bow. The White House had denied the gesture saying Mr. Obama only bent over to shake the King's two hands.

The President will spend the night at the King's horse ranch just outside of Riyadh where the two men are expected to discuss the Middle East peace process, Iran nuclear ambitions and of course the price of oil.

In the days before departing for his trip, Mr. Obama had told reporters he would be "very honest" with King Abdullah, ", indicating to [the King] that we're not going to be eliminating our need for oil imports in the immediate future; that's not our goal. What our goal has to be is to advance the clean energy solutions in this country that can strengthen our economy, put people back to work, diversify our energy sources."