WASHINGTON, March 30 (Reuters) - U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice telephoned Saudi Arabia's ambassador after Saudi King Abdullah criticized the U.S. presence in Iraq, the State Department said on Friday.

State Department spokesman Sean McCormack said Rice had a "good chat" with Saudi Ambassador Adel Al-Jubeir and their conversation would be followed up by other senior U.S. officials. He declined to provide further details.

Abdullah told an Arab summit in Riyadh on Wednesday that Iraq was under "illegitimate foreign occupation" by the United States, which invaded the country four years ago and toppled President Saddam Hussein.

The Bush administration shot back on Thursday, saying it strongly disagreed with Abdullah's view and that U.S. troops were in Iraq at the Iraqi government's invitation and under a U.N. mandate.

"We have fundamentally good, sound relations with the Saudi government and with King Abdullah in particular," McCormack told reporters.

"We all fundamentally share the same goal of a united, whole Iraq as a place for all Iraqis. The Saudi government wants to see a stable Iraq. We all share that goal."

McCormack said the two countries would join a meeting in the next few weeks at ministerial level to discuss Iraq, a follow-up to a meeting of Iraq's neighbors in Baghdad on March 10, which was also attended by U.S. foes Syria and Iran.

The ministers' meeting had been expected to be held in Istanbul, maybe as early as next week, but no date or venue has been announced.

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