A Saudi diplomat is seeking political asylum in the United States because he is gay and befriended a Jewish woman, NBC News has reported. The diplomat, which NBC identified as Ali Ahmad Asseri, the first secretary of the Saudi consulate in Los Angeles, reportedly told American officials that the kingdom refused to renew his diplomatic passport and terminated his job after they discovered that he was gay and was a close friend of a Jewish woman.
"My life is in a great danger here and if I go back to Saudi Arabia, they will kill me openly in broad daylight," Asseri told NBC in an email message. Asseri posted a letter on a Saudi website criticizing his kingdom," NBC said.
In the letter Asseri also threatened to make public embarrassing information on members of the Saudi royal family living in the United States, NBC said.
