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Saudi Arabia’s New Envoys to US, UK Take Up Posts

Saudi Arabia’s new ambassadors to the United States and the United Kingdom have officially taken up their posts, the Saudi state news agency SPA reported on Thursday. Princess Reema bint Bandar al-Saud, the kingdom’s first female ambassador, took up her position in Washington while her brother, Prince Khalid bin Bandar al Saud, did so in London. The posts had been vacant for several months due to tensions with western allies over the ongoing war in Yemen, where a Saudi-led coalition is fighting the Iran-aligned Houthis, and over the murder of Saudi dissident journalist Jamal Khashoggi, reportedly orchestrated by Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman. Reema bint Bandar’s appointment in February has been construed as a response to ongoing international scrutiny over Riyadh’s human rights violations. The new ambassadors are the children of Bandar bin Sultan Al Saud, who was the envoy to Washington between 1983 and 2005.