Saudi Crown Prince Says ‘America Made Mistakes’ As Biden Challenges Him Over Khashoggi Murder | World News
The crown prince of Saudi Arabia told Joe Biden that the US had also made a mistake, after the president confronted him about the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi.
Mr. Khashoggi to be killed and fragmented by an assault team at the country’s Istanbul consulate in 2018.
Mr. Biden said he challenged the Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman (MBS) about the murder when he met the Saudi leader on Friday.
He said he was “frank and direct” and made his views on the murder “crystal”.
US intelligence agencies believe MBS approved the Washington Post columnist murder plot, and while running for president, Biden promised to do so. Saudi Arabia a “pariah” about the murder.
The President has received criticism for greet the crown prince with a fist when he landed in Saudi Arabia yesterday.
One of the things to attack Mr Biden is Mr. Khashoggi’s fiancee, Hatice Cengiz, who tweeted a photo of the moment and asked: “Is this the responsibility you promised for my murder?”
The US President told reporters: “He [MBS] basically said he was not personally responsible for it. I pointed out that I thought it was him. “
In a statement to Reuters on Saturday, a Saudi official said the crown prince told Biden that the United States had also made human rights mistakes.
“In the same year, similar unfortunate incidents took place and other journalists were killed in other parts of the world,” the crown prince said.
“The US also made some mistakes like the Abu Ghraib prison incident in Iraq and other places.”
MBS has always denied approving the plan to kill Mr. Khashoggi, who was once an outspoken critic of the kingdom.
Mr Biden said he had ‘indicated’ to MBS that he thought he was responsible for the killings
The crown prince told Mr Biden that the kingdom had “taken every measure to prevent similar mistakes in the future”, the Saudi official said.
He is also said to have warned about imposing values on other countries by force, as well as raising Kill Al Jazeera’s Shireen Abu Aklehwas shot dead in an Israeli raid in May.
The US has softened its stance towards Saudi Arabia since Invasion of Ukraine spark a worldwide energy crisis.
Mr. Biden wants the group of oil producers OPEC + to increase production to reduce rising prices.
The US also wants to maintain good relations with the kingdom to counter the growing influence of Russia and China.
Mr. Khashoggi was killed by a Saudi murder squad in Istanbul in October 2018
“We had a good discussion about ensuring global energy security and adequate oil supplies to support global economic growth,” Biden said on Friday.
“I’m doing all I can to increase the supply to the United States of America, which I expect will happen.
“The Saudis share that urgency and based on our discussions today, I expect we’ll see further strides in the coming weeks.”
The question of energy was once again on the agenda in the Red Sea city of Jeddah today as Mr Biden took part in a larger summit of Arab leaders.
