President Joe Biden and Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, on July 16, 2022.
MANDEL NGAN/POOL/AFP via Getty Images
President Joe Biden said he confronted the Saudi Crown Prince over the murder of Jamal Khashoggi.
Saudi Arabia’s foreign minister disputed that, saying he “did not hear” such an exchange.
Biden vowed to make Saudi Arabia a “pariah” over the murder, but recently sought warmer relations.
Saudi Arabia’s foreign minister on Saturday disputed President Joe Biden’s claim that he directly condemned Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman over the 2018 killing of journalist Jamal Khashoggi.
In a meeting with reporters on Friday, Biden said he raised Khashoggi’s murder “at the top of the meeting” with the crown prince, who is often known by the initials MBS.
Biden said he was “straightforward and direct” in discussing the matter at the meeting, which was closed to the media.
Khashoggi was killed by Saudi agents at the Saudi consulate in Istanbul, Turkey. MBS has denied any personal responsibility, but the US intelligence community and Biden have been clear that they believe he ordered the death.
Biden told reporters that he “indicated” that MBS was personally responsible for the death of Khashoggi, a Washington Post journalist who lived mostly in the US.
This was contradicted by Adel Al-Jubeir, the Saudi minister for foreign affairs, who on Saturday told several reporters that he heard no such exchange.
“After POTUS departed Saudi Arabia on AF1, Saudi FM Adel al-Jubeir called my colleague @AlexHoganTV back for a 2nd interview – even though Fox interviewed him yday,” wrote Fox News White House correspondent Jacqui Heinrich on Twitter.
“He pointedly claimed he ‘did not hear’ Biden tell MBS he believed he was responsible for Khashoggi’s murder,” Heinrich added.
al-Jubeir gave a similar account to PBS correspondent Nick Schifrin, saying “I didn’t hear that exchange, that particular exchange,” according to Schifrin’s tweet.
The minister gave an account in which the issue was discussed but without assigning blame.
Per Schifrin’s posts, al-Jubeir said: “He mentioned the issue of Jamal Khashoggi, and he said this is an issue that has generated a lot of interest and concern in the US… and that he understood, he knew what Saudi Arabia’s position was.”
Biden pushed back on this himself hours later. Responding to a reporter who if al-Jubeir was telling the truth that he did not accuse MBS of the murder, Biden said “no.”
Insider reached out to the White House and the Saudi foreign ministry for comment on Sunday morning but did not immediately receive a response.
The president has faced strong criticism for traveling to Saudi Arabia, which he pledged before taking office to reduce to “pariah” status. He defended his visit, saying that it was important to promote US interests there.
“I think we have an opportunity to reassert what I think we made a mistake of walking away from — our influence in the Middle East,” Biden said Thursday.