King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia issues dire warning: Jihadists could reach Europe and America in a matter of months

© AP Photo/Brendan Smialowski, Pool

Saudi King Abdullah listens to U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry speak before a meeting at the King’s private residence on June 27, 2014 in the Red Sea city of Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, Friday, June 27, 2014.

The man who now leads them

warned his American captors

, "I'll see you guys in New York."

They could

exploit the porous southern U.S. border for an attack

, and on Thursday President Barack Obama said, "

We don't have a strategy yet

" to fight them.

The Islamic State has blitzed its way into control across a huge swath of Syria and Iraq in recent months, and on Friday, King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia issued a dire warning: Jihadists could reach Europe and America in a matter of months.

As

Agence France-Presse reported

Saturday:

"If we ignore [the Islamic State], I am sure they will reach Europe in a month and America in another month," [King Abdullah] said in remarks quoted on Saturday by Asharq al-Awsat daily and Saudi-backed Al-Arabiya television station.



"Terrorism knows no border and its danger could affect several countries outside the Middle East," said the king who was speaking at a welcoming ceremony on Friday for new ambassadors, including a new envoy from Saudi ally the United States.

As he listed the atrocities the Islamic State has committed, the Saudi king plead for western aid.

"It is no secret to you, what they have done and what they have yet to do," King Abdullah said, citing jihadists' penchant for beheading their enemies. "I ask you to transmit this message to your leaders: 'Fight terrorism with force, reason and speed.'"