UK invites Saudi crown prince Mohammed bin Salman to visit

Source: The Guardian

UK invites Saudi crown prince Mohammed bin Salman to visit

Saudi heir’s official visit would be first since he was accused of being behind killing of Jamal Khashoggi

Patrick Wintour Diplomatic editor
Fri 14 Jul 2023 11.21 BST
Last modified on Fri 14 Jul 2023 15.53 BST

The Saudi crown prince, Mohammed bin Salman, has been invited to the UK on an official visit in late autumn, the first such visit by the heir to the Saudi throne since he was accused of masterminding the killing of Jamal Khashoggi, the Washington Post columnist and dissident.

Numerous UK ministers have been to Saudi Arabia in the interim, and senior Saudi ministers have also come to the UK, including the foreign minister, Faisal bin Farhan Al Saud.

Prince Mohammed also spent nearly a week in Paris last month meeting the French president, Emmanuel Macron, and attending a climate finance summit.

News of the UK visit, first reported by the Financial Times, comes as Saudi Arabia tries to end the war in Yemen, and has opened up diplomatic relations with Iran. The US is seeking to persuade Saudi Arabia also to normalise diplomatic relations with Israel, but Riyadh, unlike its Gulf Arab allies the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain, is resisting until there is progress on the Palestinian issue.

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Read more: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/jul/14/uk-invites-saudi-crown-prince-mohammed-bin-salman-to-visit

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