Washington welcomes Saudi crown prince 7 years after Khashoggi killing

Riyadh/Washington (dpa/AP) – Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman has left Riyadh for the United States, marking his first visit to Washington since the 2018 killing of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi put the heir apparent under intense global scrutiny.

The royal court said in a statement carried by the Saudi Press Agency that the visit follows directives from King Salman and an invitation from the US president.

The crown prince will meet President Donald Trump "to discuss bilateral relations and ways to strengthen them across various fields, as well as issues of mutual interest."

US-Saudi relationship in tailspin after killing

The US-Saudi relationship had been sent into a tailspin by the operation targeting Khashoggi, a fierce critic of the kingdom, that US intelligence agencies later determined Prince Mohammed likely directed the agents to carry out.

But seven years later, the dark clouds over the relationship have been cleared away. And Trump has tightened his embrace of the 40-year-old crown prince he views as an indispensable player in shaping the Middle East in the decades to come. 

Prince Mohammed, for his part, denies involvement in the killing of Khashoggi, a Saudi citizen and Virginia resident.

He leads a delegation that includes the foreign, energy and finance ministers, the governor of the Public Investment Fund (PIF), the kingdom's sovereign wealth fund, as well as a number of businessmen, sources told dpa.

The kingdom's de-facto ruler, who is widely referred to as MBS, is scheduled to meet Trump on Tuesday at the White House.

Trump: "We are honouring Saudi Arabia" 

It is more than a meeting, Trump told reporters recently of the talks, saying: "We are honouring Saudi Arabia." Trump added that he was considering Saudi Arabia's request to purchase F-35 fighter jets.

He also said Saudi Arabia's normalization with Israel "will be a part" of the discussions between the two men.

Trump would like to see Saudi Arabia join the Abraham Accords, which saw the United Arab Emirates (UAE) lead the way for other countries to establish diplomatic ties with Israel in 2020.

The oil-wealthy monarchy says it is open to rapprochement with Israel, however, the move is contingent on a pathway to Palestinian statehood.

Tuesday's meeting will be Mohammed's first visit to the White House since March 2018, when he met with Trump during his first term.

Global outcry in 2018

In October 2018, the killing of US-based Saudi critic Jamal Khashoggi at the Saudi consulate in Istanbul sparked a global outcry and left MBS largely shunned by the West for few years.

The kingdom was Trump's first official foreign stop during both his first and second administration.

Khashoggi will likely be an afterthought as the two leaders unveil billions of dollars in deals and huddle with aides to discuss the tricky path ahead in a volatile Middle East. They'll end their day with an evening White House soiree, organized by first lady Melania Trump, to honour the prince.

"They have been a great ally," Trump said of the Saudis on the eve of the visit.

Fighter jets and business deals

Ahead of Prince Mohammed's arrival, Trump announced he has agreed to sell the Saudis F-35 fighter jets despite some concerns within the administration that the sale could lead to China gaining access to the US technology behind the advanced weapon system.

Trump's announcement is also surprising because some in the Republican administration have been wary about upsetting Israel's qualitative military edge over its neighbours, especially at a time when Trump is depending on Israeli support for the success of his Gaza peace plan.

But the unexpected move comes at a moment when Trump is trying to nudge the Saudis toward normalizing relations with Israel.

The president in his first term had helped forge commercial and diplomatic ties between Israel and Bahrain, Morocco and the United Arab Emirates through an effort dubbed the Abraham Accords.

Trump aims to expand Abraham Accords

Trump sees expansion of the accords as essential to his broader efforts to build stability in the Middle East after the two-year Israel-Hamas war in Gaza.

And getting Saudi Arabia - the largest Arab economy and the birthplace of Islam - to sign on would create an enormous domino effect, he argues. The president in recent weeks has even predicted that once Saudi Arabia signs on to the accords, "everybody" in the Arab world "goes in."

But the Saudis have maintained that a clear path toward Palestinian statehood must first be established before normalizing relations with Israel can be considered. The Israelis, meanwhile, remain steadfastly opposed to the creation of a Palestinian state.

The UN Security Council on Monday approved a US plan for Gaza that authorizes an international stabilization force to provide security in the devastated territory and envisions a possible future path to an independent Palestinian state.

Assurances on US military support

The leaders certainly will have plenty to talk about including maintaining the fragile ceasefire in Gaza, mutual concerns about Iran's malign behaviour, and a brutal civil war in Sudan.

And the Saudis are looking to receive formal assurances from Trump defining the scope of US military protection for the kingdom, even though anything not ratified by Congress can be undone by the next president.

Prince Mohammed, 40, who has stayed away from the West after the Khashoggi killing, is also looking to reestablish his position as a global player and a leader determined to diversify the Saudi economy away from oil by investing in sectors like mining, technology and tourism.

To that end, Saudi Arabia is expected to announce a multi-billion dollar investment in US artificial intelligence infrastructure, and the two countries will lay out details about new cooperation in the civil nuclear energy sector, according to a senior Trump administration who was not authorized to comment publicly ahead of the formal announcement.