US national security adviser, Saudi Arabia’s crown prince meet to discuss ‘semi-final’ security deal

By JON GAMBRELL
Associated Press

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — President Joe Biden’s national security adviser Jake Sullivan has met with Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman to discuss what the kingdom described as the “semi-final” version of a wide-ranging security agreement between the countries. The announcement early Sunday by the state-run Saudi Press Agency comes as the strategic deal had been upended after Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack on Israel that killed 1,200 people and saw 250 others taken hostage back to the Gaza Strip. In the time since, a punishing Israeli airstrike campaign and ground offensive there has killed over 35,000 Palestinians, endangering the security deal that had included Saudi Arabia diplomatically recognizing Israel for the first time since its founding in 1948.