UK invites Saudi crown prince Mohammed bin Salman to visit

London: Britain has invited Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman for an official visit later this year, as the two countries seek to deepen economic ties, a UK government official said on Thursday.

British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and the crown prince spoke earlier on Thursday to discuss trade, investment, defence and security cooperation, according to a readout of the call issued by Downing Street.

Any official visit is likely to prove controversial, with British opposition politicians and human rights groups condemning the invitation to a man whom Western leaders believe ordered the murder in 2018 of prominent Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi.

“The Prime Minister and Crown Prince said they would continue working closely together to progress UK-Saudi cooperation and looked forward to meeting in person at the earliest opportunity,” Sunak’s office said in the statement.

There are currently no dates for the leaders to meet, according to a second British official.

Britain and other European countries are looking to diversify their sources of energy following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and would like to capitalise on Saudi Arabia’s plan to invest hundreds of billions of dollars to diversify its economy away from oil.

Britain is also one of Riyadh’s main arms suppliers, and Saudi Arabia has made several high-profile investments in Britain, most notably the country’s sovereign wealth fund’s purchase of Premier League soccer club Newcastle United.

The killing of Khashoggi at the Saudi consulate in Istanbul in 2018 sparked international outrage. U.S. intelligence concluded the crown prince had directly approved the murder of the Washington Post columnist, but he has denied any role in the killing.

Layla Moran, the foreign affairs spokesperson for Britain’s smaller opposition Liberal Democrat party, said it “beggars belief” that Sunak “is rolling out the red carpet for Mohammed Bin Salman”.

Last year, then prime minister Boris Johnson held talks with the crown prince in Riyadh. He has not visited Britain since March 2018, before Khashoggi’s murder.

The West is keen to reset relations with Saudi Arabia as it seeks to counter the rising regional influence of Iran, Russia and China.

France’s president Emmanuel Macron hosted Prince Mohammed in Paris in June, the second time he has done so since Khashoggi’s killing.

President Joe Biden met the crown prince, known as MbS, during a trip to the Middle East last year, in a break with his campaign pledge to make the kingdom a “pariah”.