LOS ANGELES  An openly gay Saudi Arabian diplomat in Los Angeles who requested asylum in late August said he had received death threats since making it public on Saturday that he had asked to be allowed to stay in the United States.

The diplomat, Ali Ahmad Asseri, was still awaiting word from American officials on his application Tuesday, and said he feared execution if he returned to his home country.

Mr. Asseri sent a letter Saturday to various news outlets saying that employees at the Saudi Consulate had harassed him after they began to suspect that he was gay and after learning that a close friend was a Jewish Israeli woman.

“My life is in a great danger here,” Mr. Asseri wrote in the letter, “and if I go back to Saudi Arabia, they will kill me openly in broad daylight. I want my voice to be heard, and I want them to know that I am not alone.”