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Jul 15, 2022 3:34 PM - THE CANADIAN PRESS
President Joe Biden touched down in Saudi Arabia on Friday.
It is Biden's first visit to Saudi Arabia since taking office, and his first meeting with the kingdom's crown prince and presumed heir to the throne, Mohammed bin Salman.
Biden has refused to speak with Mohammed bin Salman until now. Biden has declined to say whether he would raise the 2018 killing of Jamal Khashoggi, a U.S.-based journalist and critic of the kingdom.
Biden was expected to sit down first with King Salman before participating in a larger meeting that would include Prince Mohammed and other senior Saudi officials, as well as the president’s top advisers.
The Saudis took a step toward normalization of relations with Israel before Biden's visit, announcing early Friday that it was opening its airspace to “all air carriers,” signaling the end of its strict limits on Israeli flights flying over its territory.
Biden hailed the decision as “an important step towards building a more integrated and stable Middle East region.
