Tag: King Salman

  • Joe Biden to visit Saudi Arabia after calling Kingdom ‘isolated’

    United States (US) President Joe Biden will make his first Presidential trip to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), Israel and the Palestinian West Bank next month from July 13-16, confirmed by the White House, reports Associated Press (AP).

    During this visit, Biden will meet Saudi King Salman bin Abdulaziz and Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman in KSA, Israeli Prime Minister (PM) Naftali Bennett in Jerusalem and Palestinian Authority leaders, including Mahmoud Abbas in the West Bank.

    Announcing the Middle East trip, White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said, “King Salman invited Biden to visit the kingdom during a gathering in the port city of Jeddah of the six Gulf Cooperation Council nations.”

    The Saudi Embassy has said that Biden’s visit is “to strengthen the historical bilateral relations and the distinguished strategic partnership between” the two countries.

    In a statement, the Saudi Embassy stated: “The kingdom of Saudi Arabia looks forward to welcoming President Biden and defining the next chapters of our partnership. At a time of global challenges related to the global economy, health, climate and international conflict, the partnership between our two countries are as critical as ever to the promotion of peace, prosperity and stability around the world.”

    As a presidential candidate, Biden said the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi — a Saudi-born US resident who wrote critical articles about Saudi rulers in The Washington Post — had made KSA a “pariah.” When Biden took charge of the presidency, his administration made clear the president would avoid direct engagement with the crown prince and instead focus on his engagements with King Salman.

  • Saudi king hasn’t asked Nawaz to visit kingdom, says PM’s aide Ashrafi

    Saudi king hasn’t asked Nawaz to visit kingdom, says PM’s aide Ashrafi

    Special Assistant to Prime Minister on Interfaith Harmony and Middle East Affairs Hafiz Tahir Ashrafi said that Saudi King Salman bin Abdul Aziz has not invited former prime minister Nawaz Sharif to visit his Kingdom in case things get complicated in London.

    In the wake of a request by the Pakistan government to the United Kingdom for the extradition of Nawaz, reports had been making rounds that the Saudi king had offered Nawaz to come to Saudi Arabia if he ran into problems with the UK government.

    Addressing a presser in Lahore, Ashrafi said Saudi Arabia has never intervened in internal and external affairs of Pakistan.

    King Salman did not invite Nawaz Sharif to visit his country in line with its “tradition of not intervening” in the internal affairs of Pakistan, he added.

    It may be noted here that in a bid to bring Nawaz Sharif back, the government had announced it would cancel Nawaz’s passport on Feb 16.

    In Dec 2020, the minister had said that the passport of the ex-PM would be revoked owing to his refusal to return to Pakistan. Nawaz had left for London for a medical check-up in 2019 after his health deteriorated in jail. The ex-premier, who was convicted in two graft cases, has refused to return since.

  • King Salman, Crown Prince MBS secluded on the island as coronavirus invades royal family

    King Salman has secluded himself for his safety in an island palace near the city of Jeddah on the Red Sea, while Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, his son and the 34-year-old de facto ruler, has retreated with many of his ministers to the remote site on the same coast.

    The governor of Riyadh is in the intensive Care Unit (ICU) with the coronavirus. Several dozen other members of the royal family have been sickened as well. 

    The doctors at the elite hospital that treats Al-Saud clan members are also preparing more than 500 beds for an expected influx of other royals and those closest to them.

    As many as 150 royals in the kingdom are now believed to have contracted the virus, including members of its lesser branches, according to a person close to the family.

    Senior officials at the hospital said, “We don’t know how many cases we will get, all chronic patients to be moved out ASAP,” and that only “top urgent cases” will be accepted. It said any sick staff members would now be treated at a less elite hospital to make room for the royals.

    More than six weeks after Saudi Arabia reported its first case, the coronavirus is striking terror into the heart of the kingdom’s royal family.

  • Saudi king appears in public, dispelling rumours about his death, critical health

    With two senior Saudi princes, including a former heir to the throne, being detained in a crackdown against potential rivals of Saudi Arabia’s powerful crown prince, Mohammed bin Salman, the Saudi king has appeared in public, dispelling rumours about his death or critical health.

    The two princes are being held in private villas and have been allowed to call their families, according to a person with ties to the royal family.

    As speculation about the motivation for the arrests swirled, the Saudi royal court sought to quell rumours that King Salman was in poor health, releasing photographs said to have been taken Sunday that show him greeting two Saudi diplomats and appearing to be well.

    The move came as two other princes who had also been arrested were freed late on Sunday. Reports confirmed that both Prince Abdul Aziz bin Saud bin Nayef and Prince Saud bin Nayef had been questioned by royal court aides since being seized from their homes on Friday.

    According to The Guardian, Saudi officials continued to insist on Sunday that the detentions had foiled the early stages of a coup against the heir to the throne, Prince Mohammed bin Salman, who had ordered his relatives arrested. He is viewed as the de facto ruler, controlling all the major arms of government from defence to the economy.

    Officials said King Salman himself had signed the arrest warrants, an unusual move against two of the Kingdom’s most senior royals — one of whom, Prince Ahmed, is his only surviving full brother.

    Both men had been seen as among the last remaining obstacles to Prince Mohammed’s almost inevitable ascension. Earlier purges of business figures and rivals had already cleared the way for the 34-year-old crown prince.

    The early-morning arrests caused new shockwaves in a kingdom shaken by three years of cultural reforms combined with a ruthless crackdown on dissent, highlighted by the 2018 murder of the critic and journalist Jamal Khashoggi, which was carried out by royal court aides.

    King Salman’s support for his son appeared consistent throughout. However, persistent reports from inside the palace revealed glimpses of an ongoing tussle for power, which the young crown prince appeared to be winning.