Saudi Arabia says MBS made 'personal efforts' to help free Griner
22.01.2023is doubling down on its claim that Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman helped secure the release of WNBA star in a prisoner swap with the Russians.
The Saudi foreign minister vouched for the ‘personal role’ of MBS, who U.S. intelligence concluded ordered the brutal slaying of Jamal Khashoggi in 2018 in Turkey.
‘I am aware of his highness’s personal efforts in relation to the basketball player and his engagement and personal intervention to facilitate this release,’ Prince Faisal bin Farhan Al Saud told reporters in Riyadh.
‘As for what others say, I cannot comment on that,’ he said.
He was speaking after the White House called it a two-way negotiation following the release of a joint Saudi-United Arab Emirates statement claiming partial credit.
White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said Thursday it was only the U.S. and Russia who negotiated the exchange — while expressing gratitude to other countries that raised the issue with Russia.
Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan Al Saud said he was aware of the ‘personal efforts’ of Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman to help facilitate the release of basketball star Brittney Griner from a Russian prison. The White House said only the U.S. and Russia negotiated the exchange
‘Again, the only countries that negotiated this deal were the United States and Russia, and there was no mediation involved. We are grateful for the UAE — as the President mentioned, as I am mentioning now — for facilitating the use of their territory for the exchange to take place,’ she said.
‘We are also grateful to other countries, including Saudi Arabia, that released [sic] the issue of our wrongfully detained Americans with Russian government — that raised that issue.’
The prisoner swap of Griner for convicted arms trafficker Viktor Bout, when it finally occurred, took place at the airport in istanbul Lawyer Abu Dhabi.
The joint Saudi-UAE statement stated that ‘the success of the mediation efforts was a reflection of the mutual and solid friendship between their two countries and the United States of America and the Russian Federation.
It said the episode ‘highlighted the important role played by the leaderships of the two brotherly countries in promoting dialogue between all parties’.
People hold posters of slain Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi, near the Saudi Arabia consulate in Istanbul, on Oct. 2, 2020. A federal judge dismissed a U.S. lawsuit against Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman in the Saudi killing of U.S.-based journalist Jamal Khashoggi on Tuesday, Dec. 6, 2022. The Saudis are asserting that MBS played a role in facilitating the release of Brittney Griner
In this image made from video provided by Russian Federal Security Service, WNBA star and two-time Olympic gold medalist Brittney Griner smiles on the flight to Abu Dhabi after her release was negotiated
The Kingdom achieved a diplomatic breakthrough in September when it helped organize a prisoner exchange of foreign fighters in the Ukraine war. That helped bring home two Americans who were held in Russian-occupied Ukrainian territory. That came about with efforts by MBS and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
The Biden administration was infuriated when Saudi Arabia this fall when OPEC+ announced oil production cuts that the administration said would only fuel Vladimir Putin’s war machine.
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