Bin Salman on 1st foreign tour since Khashoggi killing

By Hussein Mahmoud Ragab Elkabany and Ali Semerci

RIYADH

Saudi Arabia’s crown prince left his country Thursday for his first visit abroad since the slaying last month of a Saudi journalist in Istanbul, according to the official Saudi SPA news agency.

Mohammed bin Salman left the country “on a tour of a number of brotherly Arab countries,” said the Royal Court, according to the SPA.

Several countries have imposed sanctions on Saudi Arabia over the Oct. 2 killing of journalist Jamal Khashoggi, and a report by the America CIA concluded that bin Salman ordered the killing, according to press reports.

The SPA report said that the visit came at the directive of King Salman bin Abdulaziz, and aimed to enhance the kingdom’s regional and international relations.

While it did not mention the countries on the prince’s route, Saudi channel Al-Arabiya announced bin Salman’s first stop as the United Arab Emirates (UAE).

On Tuesday, Saudi Energy Minister Khalid Abdulaziz al-Falih said that the crown prince would attend the G20 summit on Nov. 30 in Argentina, as part of a foreign tour.

Khashoggi, a Saudi journalist working for The Washington Post, was killed shortly after he entered the Saudi Consulate in Istanbul.

After weeks of shifting explanations, Saudi Arabia suggested Khashoggi was killed during a botched rendition operation by rogue agents.