Issued on: 16/07/2022 – 14:09
Saudi officials on Saturday said they were eager to move forward with the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi, a day after US President Joe Biden brought it up in his talks with Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.
Tensions between the two men were high prior to their first meeting, especially after the Biden government released an intelligence community assessment last year that Prince Mohammed “approved” the operation that led to the murder and mutilation of Khashoggi in the consulate of the United States. the kingdom in Istanbul.
In comments Friday night, Biden called Khashoggi’s death “outrageous” and said he had warned Prince Mohammed of further attacks on dissidents, without specifying what actions he might take.
The Al-Arabiya Channel quoted a Saudi official as saying that the couple “handled the issue of Jamal Khashoggi quickly” and that Prince Mohammed “confirmed that what happened is regrettable and that we have taken all legal steps to prevent a recurrence” .
>> Biden says he brought up the murder of journalist Khashoggi during a meeting with the Saudi MBS
Prince Mohammed also pointed out that “such an incident occurs all over the world,” highlighting “a number of mistakes” made by Washington, such as torturing detainees at Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq, Al-Arabiya reported.
In an interview with CNN, Foreign Minister Adel al-Jubeir questioned intelligence agencies’ determination that Prince Mohammed ordered the 2018 operation, something Prince Mohammed has denied.
“We know what the intelligence community’s assessment was regarding Saddam Hussein having weapons of mass destruction,” Jubeir said in an exchange with Wolf Blitzer that was widely shared on Saudi social media.
Allegations that the Iraqi dictator had such weapons led to the Iraq War of 2003. None were found.
‘Double standards’
Jubeir also made it clear that the kingdom believed that the Khashoggi affair had been dealt with sufficiently, even though Khashoggi’s remains have never been found.
A Saudi court sentenced eight people to seven to 20 years in prison in 2020 for the murder. Their names were never released, and Khashoggi’s fiancée labeled the statement a “farce.”
“The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia has been investigating this crime. The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia has held those responsible to account and they are now paying the price for the crime they committed,” Jubeir said.
“We’ve investigated, punished and put in place procedures to make sure this doesn’t happen again. This is what countries do in situations like this.”
Despite ongoing disagreements over the Khashoggi affair, the meeting between Prince Mohammed and Biden went “well with a frank exchange of views,” Ali Shihabi, a Saudi analyst, told AFP.
Prince Mohammed “responded to Biden and pointed to the US double standard by making a huge noise about Khashoggi (a Saudi) while doing his best to downplay the murder of Shireen Abu Akleh, even though she is a US citizen” Shihabi said, referring to the Palestinian-American journalist shot dead in May while covering an Israeli army attack on the West Bank.
“But other than that candid exchange, the meeting was very cordial and important to put behind them the bad blood caused by Biden’s statement,” he said.
(AFP)