US Vice President Joe Biden claims he brought up the death of journalist Jamal Khashoggi during a meeting with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, a guy he had previously vowed to avoid due to human rights concerns.
During a trip to restore relations with a country he had labeled a pariah following the murder of a Washington Post journalist in 2018, Mr. Biden stated that he brought up the murder “at the beginning of the meeting.”
However, he has criticized for fist-bumping the crown prince before the meeting, since it suggested a warming of relations between the two countries.
Mr. Biden told reporters, “About the murder of Khashoggi, I brought it up at the beginning of the discussion, making clear what I thought at the time and what I think now.”
“I discussed it straightforwardly and straightforwardly. I made my perspective crystal clear.
“I stated unequivocally that for an American president to remain silent on a human rights issue is incongruous with who we are and who I am.”
During their discussions in Jeddah, the president of the United States stated that the crown prince claimed he was “not personally responsible” for Khashoggi’s death. “I said that I believed he was,” the president stated he responded.
According to US intelligence, the crown prince approved an operation to arrest or kill Khashoggi, who was assassinated and mutilated by Saudi agents in the kingdom’s Istanbul consulate. The prince has refuted the charges.
The president stated that they also addressed energy and that he anticipated Saudi Arabia, a major oil producer, to take action on energy in the coming weeks.
Khashoggi, a journalist of 59 years, was a critic of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman’s rise to authoritarian power.
The Biden administration has attempted to reestablish relations with Saudi Arabia, in part to stabilize global oil markets, but has been criticized for validating the Saudi government.
The publisher of the Washington Post, Fred Ryan, condemned Mr. Biden’s fist bump with the prince as “reprehensible.”
Mr. Ryan, referring to the crown prince by his initials, stated, “It projected a degree of closeness and comfort that grants MBS the undeserved atonement he has so desperately sought.”
Democrat Adam Schiff wrote, “If we ever needed a visual reminder of the continued grip oil-rich autocrats have on US foreign policy in the Middle East, we got it today.”
A handshake is worth a thousand words.
Mr. Biden had declined to talk with Prince Mohammed for some time.
Saudi Arabia has been accused of multiple violations of human rights, including unjust trials, the implementation of the death sentence, the use of flogging as punishment, and discrimination against women and LGBTQ groups.
Human rights issues, however, have been somewhat overshadowed by other challenges, including Iran’s nuclear ambitions and soaring gas prices following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
Simultaneously, Saudi Arabia seeks to deepen its security ties with the United States and attract investments to diversify its economy away from oil production.
