Mohammed bin Salman will offer his country’s condolences to the royal family following the Queen’s death, a source has told the Guardian, but there is no confirmation whether he will attend the funeral service at Westminster Abbey.
This will be the Saudi crown prince’s first visit to the UK since the killing of Washington Post columnist Jamal Khashoggi in October 2018 and the subsequent imposition of British sanctions. These included a travel ban on a group of courtiers close to the crown prince because of their alleged involvement in the killing inside the Saudi consulate in Istanbul.
Since Khashoggi’s death, US President Joe Biden, EU Council President Charles Michel and former UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson have all met Prince Mohammed in Riyadh, often to urge him Saudis to increase oil production to help with energy prices. Johnson met the crown prince in March, but there has been no sign of the Saudi regime’s willingness to cut production, or make major domestic reforms in how it treats dissidents or punishes rights advocates. of man.
No explanation was given by UK or Saudi sources about Prince Mohammed’s detailed plans for the weekend, but sensitive judgments are still being made as to whether his attendance at the funeral would represent an unacceptable security threat or a distraction from commemoration of the Queen over his protests. presence can provoke.
The United Kingdom in 2020 sanctioned six Saudis named for their alleged murder of Khashoggi. Some of them were senior advisers to the crown prince, including Ahmed al-Asiri, deputy head of Saudi intelligence services; Saud bin Abdullah al-Qahtani, adviser to the crown prince at the royal court; Salah Muhammed al-Tubaigy, legal examiner in the Saudi interior ministry; Mustafa al-Madani, brigadier general and intelligence officer in Saudi Arabia; Naif Hassan al-Arifi, first lieutenant for foreign intelligence; and Major General Mansour Othman Abahussain.
Prince Mohammed has always denied any prior knowledge of the attack. In 2020, a Saudi court overturned five death sentences for Khashoggi’s murder, in a ruling that jailed eight defendants for between seven and 20 years.
The crown prince last visited the UK in June 2018, when the UK welcomed Saudi Arabia for launching a major program of domestic reforms.
As part of a deep bond between the royal family and the Gulf monarchies, King Charles III has been a frequent visitor to Saudi Arabia. It is the country he has visited most often in the Middle East, having made up to 12 official visits since becoming Prince Charles in 1967.
At one point he was learning Arabic because of his interest in Islam, while the Prince’s Foundation – dedicated to “realising the Prince of Wales’ vision of creating communities for a more sustainable world” – has had satellite operations in Riyadh .
