WASHINGTON: The Saudi ambassador to the United States Khalid bin Salman,brother of the powerful crown prince, has returned to Washington afterleaving the US capital in the wake of the murder of journalist JamalKhashoggi, an official said Wednesday.
“His Royal Highness the Ambassador is in Washington” embassy spokeswomanFatimah Baeshen told AFP.
The diplomat returned to Riyadh in early October shortly after the killingof the dissident Saudi journalist at the kingdom’s consulate in Istanbul.
At the time, the US State Department said it would seek information fromhim regarding the incident upon his return.
The ambassador is the brother of Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman,whose alleged role in ordering the murder is at the heart of a burningcontroversy in the US and across the world.
Two key Republican senators said Tuesday a briefing by CIA director GinaHaspel had only strengthened their conviction Prince Mohammed was behindthe crime — a charge he denies.
According to US media reports, the CIA had evidence that Prince Khalid hadspoken to Khashoggi before his death and assured him that he would be ableto visit the consulate, where he planned to go to get documents he neededto marry his Turkish fiancee, without any risk to himself.
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Prince Khalid has denied what he called a “serious accusation.”
Despite these heavy suspicions, the administration of President DonaldTrump has sought to distance the Saudi leadership from the affair andinsisted there is no direct proof Prince Mohammed ordered the killing.
The Saudi foreign minister Adel al-Jubeir meanwhile was also in WashingtonFriday to represent his country at the funeral of former president GeorgeH.W. Bush, according to Baeshen.
She did not add whether Jubeir would meet with administration officialsduring his stay. – APP / AFP
