'No confirmation of WH meetings' with visiting Saudi prince
The White House has snubbed Saudi Arabia’s powerful Deputy Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman after Riyadh said he would meet President Barack Obama in Washington.
Prince Mohammad, also the defense minister, arrived in the US on Monday to hold a number of meetings with senior US officials.
The Saudi royal court said the prince and American officials will “discuss the strengthening of bilateral relations between the two countries, and discuss issues of mutual interest and regional issues.”
The 30-year-old prince was supposed to meet with Obama on Thursday, however, a White House official said no such meeting has been confirmed yet.
“No confirmation at this time for any WH meetings,” White House spokesperson Dew Tiantawach told the Foreign Policy magazine. “We’re not going to comment on conjecture,” he added.
The absence of any scheduled meetings with even National Security Adviser Susan Rice comes amid sharp policy differences between the US and Saudi Arabia.
“Very unusual for the Saudis to come out saying he is meeting with Obama and White House not confirming it,” said David Ottaway, a Saudi expert at the Wilson Center in Washington. “They certainly knew he was coming.”
Mohammad’s visit to the US comes as controversy surrounding Saudi Arabia’s role in the September 11, 2001 attacks resurfaced in May, when the US Senate passed a bill that allowed the families of 9/11 victims to sue the Riyadh regime for the damage caused by the tragic event.
Riyadh has vehemently objected to the bill and said that it might sell up to $750 billion in US securities and other American assets if it became law.
The New York Post reported last month that the Saudi involvement was deliberately covered up at the highest levels of the American government.
The extent of the cover-up goes beyond hiding 28 pages of a congressional report on 9/11 that was released in 2002, the report said.
CIA Director John Brennan said last week that he expected the withheld section to be published soon, clearing Saudi Arabia of any responsibility.
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