The US state department spokesperson said the United States secretary of state Mike Pompeo has met with Saudi Arabia’s king and crown prince on Monday, in Riyadh, to discuss Yemen civil war and alleged murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi in Saudi Arabia consulate in Istanbul on October 2, 2018.
The US President Donald Trump has sent Pompeo to Saudi Arabia to hold talks with country’s officials, where he is scheduled to have dined with the crown prince, also at the same time overseeing a widespread crackdown on dissent.
According to NBC news reports, deputy spokesperson Robert Palladino said Pompeo will return back Washington after his meetings in Oman, despite traveling to Kuwait.
According to NBC news, the top US diplomats individually met with King Salman for around 35 minutes and also crown prince Mohammed bin Salman for another 45 minutes.
While greeting Pompeo, the crown prince said, “We are strong and old allies so we face our challenges together.” Pompeo responded: “Absolutely.”
State Department spokesperson Heather Nauert said Pompeo’s meetings in Riyadh were “direct and candid”. She said Pompeo thanked King for “his commitment to supporting a thorough, transparent and timely investigation of Jamal Khashoggi’s disappearance”.
Nauert said, “Learning what happened to Jamal Khashoggi is the primary purpose of this trip and is of great interest to the president,” adding, “The secretary has made that clear in each of his meetings today.”
The US embassy in Riyadh, in a tweet, said the crown prince and Pompeo, during the meeting, agreed over the need of de-escalation in Yemen and adherence to an agreement signed last month in Sweden to put an end to the nearly four-year civil war between the Iranian-aligned Houthis and Yemen’s Saudi-backed government.