US President Joe Biden said he talked to Saudi officials about the murder of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi at a meeting in Jeddah. Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman was one of the senior Saudi officials present at the meeting.
In his talks with reporters on Friday the 15th of July 2022, Biden discussed human rights and the need for political reform.
He brought up the topic of Khashoggi’s murder and made it clear that he disapproves of the event.
He said that a US president should not be silent on an issue of human rights.
Yesterday, Joe Biden was criticised for greeting Saudi prince with a fist bump who intelligence agencies concluded was responsible for the death of Jamal Khashoggi.
Biden failed to seek accountability for the crown prince because of their friendship, and it reminds us why journalists like Khashoggi are so important. “He was just doing what he does, which is try to connect with the people,” Biden said of bin Salman during a CNN interview.
After being announced as a candidate for President in 2019, Biden said he would treat the kingdom like a pariah over the journalist’s killing. His administration initially said he would only deal with his direct counterpart, King Salman bin Abdulaziz.
The US president’s trip to Saudi Arabia is an effort to reset the relationship between Saudi Arabia and the United States. Saudi Arabia produces a lot of oil, which is one of the reasons for the high cost in energy worldwide.
Saudi Arabia insists that the killing of Khashoggi was a rogue operation and asserts it is not responsible for this. The country also rejects US intelligence agencies’ findings and has tried and convicted those behind the murder.