Thu 05 May 2022:
CIA director William Burns met with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman last month during an unannounced trip to Saudi Arabia, the Wall Street Journal reported.
The meeting comes as the Biden administration looks to repair ties with its Gulf ally, which have become strained over human rights issues, the wars in Yemen and Ukraine, and talks to revive the 2015 Iran nuclear deal.
Burns met with the crown prince, also known as MBS, in the coastal city of Jeddah where the two men had “a good conversation, better tone than prior US government engagements”, according to an unnamed US official quoted by the WSJ.
In April, the WSJ reported that the crown prince became angry and shouted at US national security advisor Jake Sullivan during a meeting last year.
The Gulf monarchy has been a longstanding ally of the US for 70 years, but ties have plummeted to historic lows under the Biden administration. As a presidential candidate, Joe Biden vowed to make the kingdom a “pariah” over the killing of Washington Post and Middle East Eye columnist Jamal Khashoggi.
The war in Ukraine has underscored a shift to a more independent Saudi policy, which critics in Washington say has been caused by the administration’s policies in the region.
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
FOLLOW INDEPENDENT PRESS:
TWITTER (CLICK HERE)
https://twitter.com/IpIndependent
FACEBOOK (CLICK HERE)
https://web.facebook.com/ipindependent
Think your friends would be interested? Share this story!
