US in close contact with UAE after detention of former Khashoggi lawyer: State department

Washington [US], July 19 (ANI)

The United States is in close touch with the United Arab Emirates (UAE) over the detention of an American citizen who previously served as a lawyer for Jamal Khashoggi, State Department said on Monday (local time).

"We have been actively and closely engaged on this case ever since we learnt of it shortly after his detention late last week. We raised his detention with senior levels of the Emirati government, we've requested additional information from our Emirati partners and we are watching this case closely," Earlier, it was reported that the UAE has detained Asim Ghafoor, the former lawyer of Jamal Khashoggi at the Dubai International Airport on money laundering charges.

He was sentenced to three years in prison, Sputnik News Agency reported citing local media.

Jamal Khashoggi was a dissident Saudi journalist who was killed at Saudi Arabia's consulate in Istanbul in 2018.

US President Joe Biden in his recent visit to Saudi Arabia raised the 2018 murder of Khashoggi during his meeting with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.

"I raised it at the top of the meeting, making it clear what I thought of it at the time and what I think of it now," Biden said in a speech after hours of meetings with the Saudi Crown Prince in Jeddah.

Biden received criticism earlier on Friday when he was photographed fist bumping the Saudi Crown Prince, who the US intelligence community concluded approved Khashoggi's 2018 murder, reported The Hill citing sources.

Biden not only highlighted the progress in moving relations between Saudi Arabia and Israel towards normalization and said the US and Saudi Arabia agreed to partner on a "far-reaching" green energy initiative.

Notably, he also expressed optimism that Saudi Arabia would take steps to boost the global oil supply in the coming weeks, which had been viewed as a major goal of the trip given high domestic gas prices globally due to the ongoing conflict between Russia and Ukraine.