Leaked Secret Cable Says Biden Admin Rejected MBS Visit to United States

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A leaked secret cable from Saudi King Salman (in Arabic) details Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman’s (MBS) efforts to end the US ban on his visits to Washington and meetings with President Joe Biden. 1/

King Salman created a professional team to urgently leverage Saudi investments in the US and the help from Saudi Monarchy’s American friends and allies to pressure the State Department to end travel restrictions on MBS. 2/

The King asks that MBS be allowed to visit the US and meet with Biden ASAP, or get Biden to visit the Kingdom. The secret cable signed by King Salman was sent April 8. 3/

The cable referenced a March 29 letter from Saudi Ambassador Reema bint Bandar conveying the refusal of the State Department for an MBS visit and meeting with Biden. 4/

On February 17, Biden’s @PressSec Jen Psaki told reporters: “The president’s counterpart is King Salman and I expect at an appropriate time he will have a conversation with him,” precluding any calls or meetings between Biden and MBS. https://www.reuters.com/article/us-mideast-usa-biden-idUSKBN2AG2AR 5/

The cable was leaked by a group calling itself “Mijhar AlJazeera” that has a trove of secret Saudi documents, according to one of its members who spoke to @GulfInstitute. These documents maybe have been obtained through hacking or from insiders who leaked them. 6/

The King’s cable was sent to the Saudi Investment Authority, the Foreign Ministry and the Saudi Cabinet Secretariat. The Institute will continue to report on these documents as they become available. END/