Saudi Crown Prince meets UN chief, other leaders, on G-20 sidelines

Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman talks to United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres next to Brazil's President Michel Temer, before the family photo during the G-20 summit in Buenos Aires, Argentina, on Nov 30, 2018. PHOTO: REUTERS

RIYADH (REUTERS) - Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman has met United Nations Secretary General Antonio Guterres on the sidelines of the G-20 summit in Argentina, Saudi state TV reported on Saturday (Dec 1).

The TV released a video of Prince Mohammed receiving Mr Guterres, and the Saudi Press Agency (SPA) added later that the two leaders had reviewed aspects of the partnership between Saudi Arabia and the United Nations.

The G-20 summit in Buenos Aires is the first major international event the Saudi prince has attended since the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi in the Saudi consulate in Istanbul in October.

After offering numerous contradictory explanations, Riyadh said last month that Mr Khashoggi had been killed and his body dismembered when negotiations to persuade him to return to Saudi Arabia failed.

Saudi Arabia has said the prince had no prior knowledge of the murder, which has strained Saudi Arabia's ties with the West and battered the prince's image abroad.

The prince also met Italy's Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte on Saturday and reviewed bilateral relations, SPA said.

The agency added that the heir to the throne of the world's top oil exporter had met Argentinian President Mauricio Macri, reviewing means to promote cooperation between the two countries.

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