State Dept. Says Close US-Saudi Relationship Unchanged After King's Death

A US State Department spokesperson said that collaboration between the United States and Saudi Arabia was unaffected by the death of Saudi Kind Abdullah or by Crown Prince Salman being declared the new king of Saudi Arabia.

 

WASHINGTON, January 23 (Sputnik) — Collaboration between the United States and Saudi Arabia will be unaffected by Saudi Kind Abdullah passing away and Crown Prince Salman being declared the new king of Saudi Arabia, US State Department spokesperson Jen Psaki said on Friday.

“We look forward to continuing the close partnership between the United States and Saudi Arabia under the leadership of King Salman. We have a long history of cooperation, we have no indication that this cooperation will change,” Psaki told journalists during a press briefing.

Psaki specified that the United States and Saudi Arabia closely cooperate on a range of issues including common efforts to degrade and defeat the Islamic State, the Arab Peace Initiative, and “on a range of conflicts around the world.”

“There are still issues where we have disagreements on, on issues like humane rights, freedom of speech, equal rights for women,” Psaki said. However, the United States is going to give them “certainly a period of time before we engage in diplomatic discussions with them,” Psaki added.

The sixth Saudi king, Abdullah Bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, died aged 90 early on Friday after spending several weeks in hospital with a lung infection. Saudi Crown Prince Salman bin Abdulaziz Saud was named the new Saudi king following his half-brother King Abdullah’s death.