Pompeo says to raise Saudi human rights record in trip to kingdom

Top US diplomat says he plans to bring up case of jailed Saudi-American doctor Walid Fitaihi with kingdom’s leaders. US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has arrived in Saudi Arabia‘s capital, Riyadh, for high-level discussions with the kingdom’s leaders. During his visit, which started on Wednesday – the first since the US forces killed a top military commander of Saudi Arabia’s regional rival Iran, leading to soaring tensions – Washington’s top diplomat will hold discussions with King Salman and his son Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, the kingdom’s de facto ruler. Before his arrival in Riyadh, Pompeo said he planned to raise US concerns over Saudi Arabia’s human rights record, including the case of a Saudi-American doctor who is facing trial and barred from leaving the kingdom and allegedly tortured. When asked by a reporter whether he would specifically raise the case of Walid Fitaihi, Pompeo said: “I’m sure I’ll bring up that issue and a wide range of human rights issues, as well.” He added: “In each of the visits I’ve had to the kingdom during my time both as CIA director and as secretary of state, we raised these important issues, these issues that matter a lot to the American people.” Allegations of torture A day before Pompeo was scheduled to arrive in Saudi Arabia, the two lead congressmen in the House Foreign Affairs Committee wrote to him to urge him to raise the case of Fitaihi with Saudi government officials.