Saudi Arabia’s crown prince Mohammad bin Salman Al Saud, met on Thursday in Riyadh, with US special envoy to Afghanistan Zalmay Khalilzad.

The meeting was attended by Saudi foreign minister Adel al-Jubeir, Ahmed Asiri, deputy head of the general intelligence, and the US embassy’s charge d’affaires to Saudi Arabia, Christopher Hensel, and a number of officials.

On Monday, US advisor Khalilzad arrived in Kabul to hold the first round of talks with Afghan leaders since being appointed an envoy to lead peace efforts with the Taliban and end the 17-year war, Afghan officials said on Sunday.

Last month Khalilzad, 67, an Afghan-born former US ambassador to Kabul and Iraq, joined the US State Department team to lead the reconciliation effort and peace talks with the Taliban. Full story

On the other hand, Saudi crown prince also met in Riyadh with Somali Prime Minister Hassan Ali Khayre, during which they reviewed the bilateral relations and the means of developing them in various fields.