The Kingdom has granted permission for US citizen Saad Almadi to return home to Florida, five months ahead of the planned removal of travel restrictions and a day after Saudi crown prince and head of government met the former US president at the White House.
Legal Case Background
Almadi, 75, was sentenced to 19 years of incarceration in the kingdom in 2021 after he wrote 14 tweets opposing the Riyadh government. After 24 months, the charges were reduced to termed "cyber crimes" and he was sentenced to a 30-year ban on leaving Saudi Arabia.
"Our family is overjoyed that, after four long years, our father, Saad Almadi, is finally on his way home to the United States!"
The declaration that Almadi, a person with dual nationality and former engineering professional who had resided in the US since the 1970s, would be allowed to depart the country came after the US president gave an address touting US-Saudi ties, including weapons deals and financial agreements.
Diplomatic Recognition
"This moment would not have been possible without President Donald Trump and the persistent work of his administration. We are extremely thankful to Dr Sebastian Gorka and the team at the national security council, as well as everyone at the foreign affairs office," it added.
The statement by Almadi's son, Ibrahim Almadi, also thanked various charitable groups, including the James Foley Fund and Hostages America, and House speaker Mike Johnson for supporting the elder Almadi's cause. He subsequently shared on social media that his father was traveling to the US.
Broader Context
Almadi is one of a small number of American dual citizens facing exit bans from Saudi Arabia following a crackdown on online dissent. His son has previously claimed that Almadi was pressured to sign papers giving up his US citizenship.
The legal proceedings involving Almadi focused on social media posts in which he was accused of urged Saudi citizens to seek Lebanese citizenship and criticized the kingdom's defenses against Houthi rocket strikes.
More controversially, he supported the renaming of a street in the US capital after Jamal Khashoggi, the journalist and Washington Post columnist killed in the Saudi consulate in Istanbul in 2018.
Related Incident
US intelligence reports published by the Biden administration later assessed that the crown prince had authorized of a plan to "capture or kill" Khashoggi.
Questioned regarding the killing, Trump said the crown prince "knew nothing" of Khashoggi's killing. The Saudi crown prince has denied any wrongdoing. He said at the White House that Saudi Arabia "did all the right things" to examine Khashoggi's death, which he called "distressing" and a "huge mistake".
Diplomatic Pressure
US diplomatic efforts to release Almadi and allow him to return to the US has been building since Trump's trip to Saudi Arabia in May. Many appealed to Trump's claim that he is uniquely successful in bringing back US citizens detained overseas.
When asked by a reporter in May about the case, Trump said he didn't know about it but promised to take a look. A few weeks later, one of his national security aides, Gorka, met the son at the White House.
"President Trump is the president of deals and he loves to do business with the Saudis and we will win your father back," Johnson said.
