U.S. president, Saudi king have phone call ahead of expected Khashoggi report release

US State Department spokesman Ned Price speaks during the daily press briefing at the State Department in Washington, DC, U.S. February 25, 2021. Nicholas Kamm/Pool via REUTERS

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. President Joe Biden on Thursday told Saudi King Salman he would work for bilateral ties "as strong and transparent as possible," the White House said, ahead of the expected release of a sensitive U.S. intelligence report on the 2018 murder of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi.

The report is a declassified version of a top-secret assessment that sources say singles out the 85-year-old king's son Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman for approving the murder of Khashoggi in the kingdom's consulate in Istanbul.