Saudi crown prince to visit Washington on March 19

The much anticipated trip to Washington will follow a visit to Britain on March 7 for talks with Prime Minister Theresa May.

MENA

2 min read

The New Arab & agencies

01 March, 2018

Saudi Arabia has grown close to its longtime ally Washington under Trump [Getty]

Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman is to visit the United States from March 19-22, for the first time as heir to the throne, a Saudi government source told AFP on Wednesday.

The much anticipated trip to Washington will follow a visit to Britain on March 7 for talks with Prime Minister Theresa May.

US President Donald Trump hosted Prince Mohammed in March 2017, just weeks after taking office, and he chose Saudi Arabia for his first official overseas visit as president.

Prince Mohammed, who was named heir in June 2017, is also expected to visit France in the coming weeks.

The government source did not comment on Prince Mohammed's schedule in Washington.

Saudi Arabia has grown close to its longtime ally Washington under Trump, whose harder line on its arch-rival Iran and softer stance on arms sales are a welcome shift in policy for Riyadh.

Trump alleged he installed Mohammed bin Salman as Saudi Arabia's crown prince, according to Wolff's publication Fire and Fury: Inside the Trump White House, which based on interviews with Trump's senior aides.

"We've put our man on top," Trump is said to have claimed to friends.

The shake-up in June saw Saudi Arabia's King Salman shelve decades of custom within the royal family, by naming his 31-year-old son Mohammad bin Salman as crown prince, ousting his nephew Mohammad bin Nayef.

When the announcement came, Trump congratulated bin Salman on his "recent elevation".

Just a month earlier, the US president visited the kingdom in his first overseas trip, signing a multi-billion dollar arms deal with Saudi leaders.

Saudi Arabia reportedly agreed to buy $7 billion worth of arms from US defence firms late last year. The kingdom bought precision guided munitions from American firms Raytheon Co and Boeing Co, in a deal likely to spark outrage over the weapons' use in the Saudi-led bombing campaign in Yemen.

The deal was part of a $110 billion weapons agreement that coincided with Trump's visit to Saudi Arabia in May. London has also signed off on more than £3.3 billion (€3.7 billion, $4.4 billion) worth of arms sales to Riyadh since March 2015.

Campaigners across the world are continuously blasting bin Salman for spearheading the war in Yemen, which has become the world’s largest manmade humanitarian crisis, according to the UN.

"The crown prince is a figurehead for a regime with one of the worst human rights records in the world. He has overseen the devastating bombardment in Yemen, which has killed thousands of people and created a terrible humanitarian catastrophe,” said Andrew Smith of Campaign Against Arms Trade (CAAT).