PRIME MINISTER Rishi Sunak has been accused of giving Saudi Arabia the opportunity to “rehabilitate itself on the world stage” after failing to challenge Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman on the state’s human rights record. 

Downing Street said that the two world leaders had a “lengthy discussion” about the state’s efforts to “improve” social reforms during a one-on-one talk at the fringes of the G20 summit in Bali on Tuesday.

But this did not include raising the case of murdered journalist Jamal Khashoggi, No 10 said, despite accusations that it was Prince Mohammed who personally ordered the killing at the Saudi embassy in Istanbul in 2018. 

Instead they spoke about issues “like women’s rights and the need for more progress on freedoms in the kingdom,” the spokesperson said. 

The meeting has been condemned by human rights groups.

Amnesty International UK’s chief executive Sacha Deshmukh said: “It’s disappointing that the Prime Minister apparently didn’t raise the need for justice for Jamal Khashoggi’s calculated murder at the hands of agents of the Saudi state.
 
“We’re told that the PM spoke of the need for more progress on women’s rights and freedoms in the kingdom, yet any ‘progress’ is currently non-existent. Women are still discriminated against by law, and the bulk of Saudi civil society is either already behind bars, living in exile, or has been intimidated into silence.”
 
He said: “The outlook for Saudi human rights defenders is currently extremely bleak, and they’re likely to view today’s meeting as a missed opportunity and one which has allowed Saudi Arabia to further rehabilitate itself on the world stage.”

The PM was also expected to ask Riyadh during the meeting to produce more oil and gas to make up for supply squeezes.