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Khashoggi was killed by Saudi agents inside the Saudi consulate in Istanbul, Turkey in 2018
US President Joe Biden said he raised the issue of the murder of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi during his meeting with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman in Saudi Arabia.
Biden is visiting Saudi Arabia in order to reset relations between the two countries following his pledges to make Saudi Arabia a “pariah” because of the human rights file.
The US president made it clear that the Khashoggi murder case was “very important” to him and to the United States.
But he noted that the two countries have reached agreement on other issues.
Biden’s visit to Saudi Arabia faces criticism because there are those who see it as a way to correct Saudi Arabia’s position following the killing of the Saudi dissident journalist, who was residing in the United States, inside the Saudi consulate in Turkey in Istanbul on October 2, 2018.
The CIA accused the Saudi crown prince of having authorized the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi.
But Mohammed bin Salman denies these allegations, and the Saudi Public Prosecutor has blamed the crime on what he described as “rogue elements” from Saudi Arabia.
“With regard to the murder of Khashoggi, I have raised this issue with a great deal of interest, explaining everything I have thought regarding it since its occurrence and what I am thinking now regarding it,” said the US president, at a press conference held following his meeting with bin Salman.
He added, “I also made it clear that for an American president, silence on a human rights issue is inconsistent with who we are and who I am. I will always stand up for our values.”
picture released, Archyde.com
President Biden shakes hands with the Saudi Crown Prince
Pictures were taken of Biden giving his fist to the Saudi crown prince, which indicates a clear rapprochement in relations between the two countries.
But Khadija Cengiz, Khashoggi’s fiancée, criticized Biden’s visit to Saudi Arabia. And she posted on her account on the social networking site Twitter a picture of Jamal Khashoggi accompanied by words I imagined that if he was still alive, he would have said them himself; “Is this the accountability you promised following killing me? The blood of the next victims of Mohammed bin Salman is on your necks.”
Meanwhile, The Washington Post’s publisher and CEO, Fred Ryan, said, “The fist handshake between President Biden and Mohammed bin Salman was worse than the handshake – it was shameful. It represented a level of intimacy and comfort that provided Mohammed bin Salman with the redemption he desperately sought.” Aside from the killing of Khashoggi, who was a columnist for the Washington Post, President Biden said he had discussed energy with the Saudi crown prince and that he expected Saudi Arabia, the major oil producer, to take “other steps” to stabilize the market in the coming weeks. And in his defense. On Biden’s actions, the US Democratic Congressman, Brad Sherman, told the BBC that increasing Saudi Arabia’s supply of oil to the market would save lives. “The price of oil means the death of people in poor countries. It raises the prices of food and fertilizer and means that People are dying by the hundreds of thousands, not only from starvation but also from malnutrition that they get.” “So it is very easy for Mrs. Khashoggi.” [خديجة جنكيز] To say, “Don’t worry regarding hundreds of thousands of people dying, avenge my fiancé.” We have to be adults and act like adults here.”
A visit full of statements
Biden also announced that Saudi Arabia would open up its airspace for planes to and from Israel, which was previously prohibited.
Israel preempted the visit by announcing what it described as the first official step of normalization between it and the Kingdom, in reference to Saudi Arabia’s decision to open its airspace to all civil aviation, including Israeli aviation.
Israeli Prime Minister Yair Lapid considered that the Saudi decision “constitutes the first official step of normalization with the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.”
The Saudi decision will allow Israeli airlines to fly a direct path towards Asia and Australia.
Biden had also announced an agreement to link Iraq’s electric power grid to the Gulf Cooperation Council.
And the official Iraqi News Agency (INA) stated that Iraq had signed an agreement with Saudi Arabia to link electric power with the Gulf.
On Friday, the Iraqi Prime Minister, Mustafa Al-Kazemi, arrived in Saudi Arabia at the head of a delegation that included the ministers of foreign affairs, finance, oil, trade and electricity to attend the Jeddah summit with the participation of the Gulf Cooperation Council countries, Egypt and Jordan, and in the presence of US President Joe Biden.
Upon his arrival, Al-Kazemi and his accompanying delegation held a closed meeting with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.
The US President said in a press conference held Friday evening in Saudi Arabia that the US peacekeeping forces stationed on the islands of Tiran and Sanafir will leave the two islands following they settled there more than forty years following the Camp David agreement.
Biden’s statement follows an Israeli statement that it does not mind handing over the islands from Egypt to Saudi Arabia following the 2016 agreement.
It was not clear Egypt’s official position on this, and the Egyptian Foreign Ministry did not respond to requests for comment on the matter.
Biden described the matter as a great achievement, noting that the two islands will be open for tourism and economic development, adding that the agreement was made following ensuring freedom of navigation in the Gulf of Aqaba for all in addition to Israel.
In Egypt, there were reactions rejecting the agreement to hand over the islands of Tiran and Sanafir at the entrance to the Gulf of Aqaba to Saudi Arabia, following Egypt exercised sovereignty over them for nearly sixty years.
