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Saudi Arabia has agreed to allow US citizen Saad Almadi to return home to Florida, well before of the planned removal of travel bans and a day after the kingdom's leader and head of government met Donald Trump at the White House.

Judicial Proceedings Background

Almadi, seventy-five, was sentenced to 19 years of incarceration in the kingdom in 2021 after he wrote 14 tweets critical of the Riyadh government. After 24 months, the charges were reduced to so-called "cyber crimes" and he was sentenced to a 30-year ban on leaving Saudi Arabia.

"Our family rejoices that, after four long years, our father, Saad Almadi, is finally on his way home to the United States!"

The announcement that Almadi, a person with dual nationality and retired engineer who had lived in the US since the 1970s, would be free to leave the country came after the US president gave an address promoting US-Saudi ties, including arms sales and investment deals.

Diplomatic Acknowledgments

"This day would not have been possible without President Donald Trump and the persistent work of his administration. We are deeply grateful to Dr Sebastian Gorka and the team at the national security council, as well as everyone at the state department," the statement continued.

The declaration by Almadi's son, Ibrahim Almadi, also thanked various non-profit organizations, including the James Foley Fund and Hostages America, and House speaker Mike Johnson for backing the elder Almadi's cause. He later posted on social media that his father was on his way to the US.

Broader Context

Almadi is one of a handful of American dual citizens facing travel restrictions from Saudi Arabia following a crackdown on digital criticism. His son has earlier stated that Almadi was coerced to sign papers giving up his US citizenship.

The case against Almadi focused on social media posts in which he was alleged to have 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.

Khashoggi Case

US intelligence reports released by the Biden administration later concluded that the crown prince had authorized of a plan to "detain or eliminate" Khashoggi.

Questioned regarding the killing, Trump said the crown prince "was unaware" of Khashoggi's killing. The Saudi crown prince has maintained his innocence. He said at the White House that Saudi Arabia "took appropriate measures" to investigate Khashoggi's death, which he called "painful" and a "major error".

Diplomatic Pressure

US diplomatic efforts to free Almadi and allow him to return to the US has been increasing since Trump's trip to Saudi Arabia in May. Many appealed to Trump's claim that he is particularly effective in bringing back US citizens detained overseas.

When questioned by journalists in May about the case, Trump said he didn't know about it but vowed to take a look. A few weeks later, one of his security advisors, Gorka, met the son at the White House.

"President Trump is the master negotiator and he loves to do business with the Saudis and we will win your father back," Johnson said.