UAE president's letter to elderly Saudi king seen as jab at Crown Prince

UAE president's letter to elderly Saudi king seen as jab at Crown Prince Submitted by Sean Mathews on Wed, 08/26/2026 - 14:18 Handwritten letter viewed as attempt to bypass powerful Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman UAE President Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed al-Nahyan (R) meeting with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman at Qasr al-Rawdha in Abu Dhabi on 1 December 2024 (AFP) Off UAE President Mohamed bin Zayed's direct outreach to Saudi Arabia's elderly King Salman has been viewed by US and Arab diplomats as an effort to bypass the kingdom's powerful Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman. Several Saudi and Emirati news outlets reported on Monday that the leader of the UAE sent a handwritten letter to Saudi Arabia's 90-year-old King Salman. Saudi news sites reported that the letter addressed the status of ties between the two Gulf neighbours, while the UAE's official news agency, WAM, said the letter was a personal invitation to Abu Dhabi to attend a UN-sponsored water conference in December.