WASHINGTON — The White House on Tuesday announced a high powered delegation to accompany Vice President Joe Biden to offer condolences to Saudi Arabia over the death of Crown Prince Sultan bin Abdul Aziz.
Biden will be accompanied by senior Republican Senator John McCain, CIA chief David Petraeus, Clinton-era defense secretary William Cohen and Ray Mabus, Secretary of the Navy.
The delegation will also include James Smith, the US ambassador to Riyadh, and General James Mattis, the head of US Central Command.
World leaders have been pouring into Saudi Arabia to offer condolences after the death of the crown prince, who was buried on Tuesday in the presence of an ailing King Abdullah.
The White House announced on Sunday that Biden would lead the US delegation to Saudi Arabia, a day after it was announced that Sultan, who had spent long months abroad for medical treatment, had died.
The crown prince, aged 80 according to government records, served as defense minister for nearly five decades and had been in the United States since mid-June for medical treatment.
US President Barack Obama had earlier expressed «great regret» over the death of the prince and called him a «valued friend» of the United States.
Source: AFP