Permanent Under-Secretary at the UK Foreign and Commonwealth Office Simon McDonald held a meeting on Monday with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and the sides discussed the state of bilateral relations, among other issues, the Saudi Foreign Ministry said.
DOHA (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 12th November, 2018) Permanent Under-Secretary at the UK Foreign and Commonwealth Office Simon McDonald held a meeting on Monday with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and the sides discussed the state of bilateral relations, among other issues, the Saudi Foreign Ministry said.McDonald's talks in Riyadh come as US Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt is visiting Riyadh on Monday to discuss the ongoing war in Yemen and obstacles of the murder of Saudi opposition journalist Jamal Khashoggi.
"The Saudi crown prince and the UK prime minister's special envoy discussed bilateral relations between the two friendly nations and the latest developments in the region and in the world," the ministry said.
In recent weeks, numerous human rights organizations and advocacy groups have urged London to reconsider its relations with Saudi Arabia and put an end to the kingdom's impunity with regard to human rights violations in light of the Khashoggi affair and the ongoing violent conflict in Yemen, where the Saudi-led coalition's airstrikes frequently hit peaceful inhabitants and civilian infrastructure.
A journalist and a long-term critic of the Saudi domestic and foreign policy, Khashoggi disappeared on October 2 after entering the Saudi consulate in Istanbul. Saudi Arabia's acknowledgment that the journalist had been killed in a fight inside the consulate came after two weeks of denials and growing pressure from the Western allies to provide explanations. Turkey, which has conducted a separate probe into the case, claims that Khashoggi was assassinated by a hit squad sent from Saudi Arabia.
On October 26, the Saudi prosecutor general acknowledged that the journalist's murder had been premeditated, while Istanbul prosecutors said on October 31 that Khashoggi's body had been dismembered and destroyed after the murder.
