Washington: US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has announced that 16 Saudis, including one of the closest aides to Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, were barred from entry to Washington over their role in the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi.
The public designations mean that the individuals and their families cannot enter the US under Section 7031(c) of the Department of State, Foreign Operations and Related Programs Appropriations Act of 2019, a statement issued by Pompeo said on Monday.
The section “provides that, in cases where the Secretary of State has credible information that officials of foreign governments have been involved in significant corruption or gross violations of human rights, those individuals and their immediate family members are ineligible for entry into the US”, the statement read.
“The law requires the Secretary of State to publicly or privately designate such officials and their immediate family members,” it said.
The list includes the Crown Prince’s close aide, Saud al-Qahtani, who officially served as the royal court’s media czar, but appeared to have overseen the operation to seize Khashoggi, a Washington Post journalist who lived in Virginia, The New York Times reported.
