Brett McGurk, US President Joe Biden's adviser on Middle East affairs, is expected to hold talks with a Palestinian delegation in Riyadh. AFP
Brett McGurk, US President Joe Biden's adviser on Middle East affairs, is expected to hold talks with a Palestinian delegation in Riyadh. AFP
Brett McGurk, US President Joe Biden's adviser on Middle East affairs, is expected to hold talks with a Palestinian delegation in Riyadh. AFP
Brett McGurk, US President Joe Biden's adviser on Middle East affairs, is expected to hold talks with a Palestinian delegation in Riyadh. AFP

Senior US delegation makes Saudi visit for a push on regional issues


Ismaeel Naar
  • English
  • Arabic

A delegation of senior US officials is in Saudi Arabia for a push on regional issues, including the war in Yemen, and a meeting with a Palestinian delegation, White House National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan said.

President Joe Biden's adviser on Middle East affairs, Brett McGurk, is in Riyadh with Barbara Leaf, the Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern Affairs, and Tim Lenderking, Mr Biden's special envoy for Yemen, Mr Sullivan said on Tuesday.

“We are entering either our 17th or 18 month – 18th month of a truce – the longest period of peace in Yemen in years, which has been delivered in part through painstaking US diplomacy,” he said. “We not only want to keep that going, we want to deepen it and get to a permanent peace in Yemen. And that’s one of the main reasons that Brett is there.”

Mr Sullivan said the US officials would also meet a Palestinian delegation in the Saudi capital, after US Secretary of State Antony Blinken had a phone call with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas on Monday.

A Palestinian delegation led by Hussein Al Sheikh, secretary general of the Palestine Liberation Organisation (PLO) executive committee, has arrived in Riyadh for talks with Saudi and American officials, a source told The National.

Mr McGurk will "speak to the Palestinians about the whole range of issues relative to the Israeli-Palestinian file", Mr Sullivan said.

Mr Blinken expressed concern about the ongoing violence in the West Bank during his conversation with Mr Abbas, the State Department said.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, left, with Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas in the West Bank town of Ramallah in January. EPA
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, left, with Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas in the West Bank town of Ramallah in January. EPA

The Palestinian President's office said Mr Abbas told Mr Blinken that “what the Israeli occupation authorities and their forces and settlers who practise terrorism are doing contributes to undermining the two-state solution and destroys all chances of achieving peace”.

He also called for "building normal relations between the American administration and the State of Palestine, including reopening the American consulate in Jerusalem and an office for Palestine in Washington, and restoring the direct aid programme".

In September 2018, the US announced the closure of the PLO office in Washington DC after the Palestinian Authority’s attempt to open a criminal investigation against Israel before the International Criminal Court.

US special envoy for Yemen Tim Lenderking in Riyadh in March last year. AFP
US special envoy for Yemen Tim Lenderking in Riyadh in March last year. AFP

Mr Abbas also told Mr Blinken of the need for "the Israeli occupation authorities to stop all their aggressive practices and unilateral Israeli actions, adhere to the signed agreements, and move towards the political horizon", his office said.

Mr Sullivan played down the prospects of a deal to normalise ties between Saudi Arabia and Israel being reached during the US delegation’s visit to Riyadh.

“Normalisation will be one of the topics on the agenda, but it’s not the main thrust of this trip,” he said.

A source from the Saudi Foreign Ministry told The National that a meeting between the US delegation and Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman is yet to be confirmed. The Crown Prince and King Salman are in Neom, where they held a meeting of cabinet ministers late on Tuesday evening.

Mr Lenderking is back in the Gulf just two weeks after his last trip to the region, when he told The National that he was heartened by progress made in the Yemen peace process.

“Conversations regarding a new agreement are continuing, but ultimately we must get the Yemeni parties together to reach a solution on critical issues and help chart a brighter future for their country,” he said.

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2016: Feud begins after Khan criticised Trump’s proposed Muslim travel ban to US

2017: Trump criticises Khan’s ‘no reason to be alarmed’ response to London Bridge terror attacks

2019: Trump calls Khan a “stone cold loser” before first state visit

2019: Trump tweets about “Khan’s Londonistan”, calling him “a national disgrace”

2022:  Khan’s office attributes rise in Islamophobic abuse against the major to hostility stoked during Trump’s presidency

July 2025 During a golfing trip to Scotland, Trump calls Khan “a nasty person”

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Timeline

2012-2015

The company offers payments/bribes to win key contracts in the Middle East

May 2017

The UK SFO officially opens investigation into Petrofac’s use of agents, corruption, and potential bribery to secure contracts

September 2021

Petrofac pleads guilty to seven counts of failing to prevent bribery under the UK Bribery Act

October 2021

Court fines Petrofac £77 million for bribery. Former executive receives a two-year suspended sentence 

December 2024

Petrofac enters into comprehensive restructuring to strengthen the financial position of the group

May 2025

The High Court of England and Wales approves the company’s restructuring plan

July 2025

The Court of Appeal issues a judgment challenging parts of the restructuring plan

August 2025

Petrofac issues a business update to execute the restructuring and confirms it will appeal the Court of Appeal decision

October 2025

Petrofac loses a major TenneT offshore wind contract worth €13 billion. Holding company files for administration in the UK. Petrofac delisted from the London Stock Exchange

November 2025

180 Petrofac employees laid off in the UAE

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Founders: Abdulaziz AlBlooshi and Harsh Hirani

Based: Dubai, UAE

Number of employees: 10

Sector: AI, software

Cashflow: Dh2.5 Million  

Funding stage: Series A

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Libya's Gold

UN Panel of Experts found regime secretly sold a fifth of the country's gold reserves. 

The panel’s 2017 report followed a trail to West Africa where large sums of cash and gold were hidden by Abdullah Al Senussi, Qaddafi’s former intelligence chief, in 2011.

Cases filled with cash that was said to amount to $560m in 100 dollar notes, that was kept by a group of Libyans in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso.

A second stash was said to have been held in Accra, Ghana, inside boxes at the local offices of an international human rights organisation based in France.

Updated: September 06, 2023, 9:25 AM