Biden: Saudi FM Untruthful About His Exchange With MBS Over Khashoggi's Murder
© AFP 2023 / TASOS KATOPODIS
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During his visit to Saudi Arabia, US President Joe Biden claims to have raised the issue of the killing of journalist Jamal Khashoggi with Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, allegedly pinning the responsibility on him. The Saudi foreign minister, however, was quick to claim that he "didn't hear" that any such exchange took place.
US President Joe Biden has alleged that Saudi Arabian Foreign Minister Adel al-Jubeir was not telling the truth when he asserted that he "didn't hear" the US president pinning the responsibility for Jamal Khashoggi’s killing on Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman (MBS).
"The Saudi foreign minister said he didn’t hear you accuse the crown prince of Khashoggi's murder. Is he telling the truth?" a reporter asked Biden when he landed outside the White House.
The US president responded with a "no".
"Why don’t you talk about something that matters?" Biden went on to tell reporters after dodging another question about his fist bump with MBS.
Earlier on Friday, Biden said that he had "raised" the issue of the Khashoggi murder during his meeting with the Saudi leadership, "making it clear what I thought of it at the time and what I think about it now."
"He [MBS] basically said that he was not personally responsible for it [the killing]. I indicated that he was, and he said he was not personally responsible for it and he took action against those who were responsible," the president added. He also reported that the leaders discussed "more about how that dealing with any opposition to the criticism of the Saudi administration in other countries was viewed as, to me, a violation of human rights."
However, al-Jubeir quickly claimed to have not "hear[d] that particular phrase", referring to Biden’s accusations over the Khashoggi's murder.
"The president mentioned that the US is committed to human rights because since the founding fathers wrote the Constitution (…) this is part of the agenda of every American president," the Saudi foreign minister noted.
Biden visited the Middle East on July 13-16, stopping at Israel, the West Bank and Saudi Arabia. He discussed regional security, the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, and unsuccessfully tried to persuade Riyadh to boost oil production in the wake of soaring energy prices.
