BUENOS AIRES - British Prime Minister Theresa May urged Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman to hold those responsible for journalist Jamal Khashoggi's murder to account and said he should take action to prevent the recurrence of such incidents, her office said on Friday.
The G20 summit in Argentina is the first major international event Prince Mohammed has attended since the murder of the Washington Post columnist, a critic of the crown prince, in the Saudi consulate in Istanbul in October.
The killing has strained Saudi Arabia’s ties with the West and battered Prince Mohammed's image abroad. Saudi Arabia has said the prince had no prior knowledge of the murder.
"The Prime Minister stressed the importance of ensuring that those responsible for the appalling murder of Jamal Khashoggi are held to account, and that Saudi Arabia takes action to build confidence that such a deplorable incident could not happen again," May's office said in a readout of her meeting with Prince Mohammed.
May had earlier pledged to be robust when she talked to bin Salman and said that the investigation into Khashoggi's killing must be full and credible.
May is keen not to alienate allies around the world as Britain prepares to leave the European Union next year in its biggest foreign and trade policy shift in more than 40 years.