Biden disputes Saudi minister’s account of Khashoggi discussion with Saudi crown prince
US President Joe Biden has disputed remarks made by a senior Saudi diplomat that he did not blame Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman (MBS) for the murder of Washington Post journalist Jamaal Khashoggi, during his visit to the kingdom.
After meeting with Saudi Arabia’s de facto rule on Friday for the first time since taking office, Biden said that he brought up the murder of Khashoggi during his closed-door meeting with bin Salman and told the prince that he considered him to blame.
Saudi Arabia’s foreign minister Adel al-Jubeir, who was present during Biden's meeting with the crown prince, contradicted Biden’s account on Friday night, saying that he did not “hear” the US president tell the prince that he directly blamed him for the killing of Khashoggi during their discussion in Jeddah on Friday.
“I didn’t hear that particular phrase,” al-Jubeir told Fox News on Friday.
“The president mentioned that the US is committed to human rights because since the founding fathers wrote the constitution and he also made the point that American presidents – this is part of the agenda of every American president," he added.
Speaking to reporters upon landing back in Washington, Biden responded “No,” when asked if the foreign minister was telling the truth.
“I indicated I thought he was,” Biden said on Saturday. “He said he was not personally responsible for it, and he took action against those who were responsible.”
John Kirby, the coordinator for strategic communications at the National Security Council also defended Biden, saying, “The president was very clear about the conversation, and we stand by his account.”
Weeks ahead of departing on the trip to the Middle East, the Democratic president was criticized for planning to visit a controversial leader with a dismal human rights record.
US intelligence has concluded the crown prince was behind the brutal slaying of Khashoggi in a report that Biden agreed to publicize.
Biden also came under fire for abandoning his campaign promise to make Saudi Arabia a “pariah,” over the assassination of Khashoggi, who was murdered at the Saudi consulate in Istanbul, Turkey, in 2018.
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