U.S. President Joe Biden has told Saudi King Salman he will work for bilateral ties ¡°as strong and transparent as possible,¡± the White House said Thursday, ahead of the expected release of a sensitive U.S. intelligence report on the 2018 murder of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi.

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

Saudi Arabia denies that the 35-year-old crown prince, the de facto ruler of the kingdom, approved the killing.