London invites bin Salman for an official visit, the first since Khashoggi's murder

British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has invited Mohammad bin Salman, Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia, to visit England. The invitation indicates that Western countries are loosening their grip on the kingdom following the gruesome murder of dissident journalist Jamal Khashoggi. The invitation, first reported by the British business newspaper Financial Times, the 37-year-old de facto ruler of Saudi Arabia is likely to visit London in late autumn. The British prime minister's office, however, declined to confirm whether it had sent a formal invitation to the Saudi crown prince. "We would not accept invitations for foreign leaders," Prime Minister Rishi Sunak's spokesman said, adding that such visits would be "organized in the normal way."