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Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman speaks at the Future Investment Initiative Forum in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, October 24, 2018.
To contact Algaloud Reuters
President Joe Biden said his administration would announce on Monday how it intends to handle relations with Saudi Arabia, days after an intelligence report publicly linked the Saudi crown prince to the death of US journalist Jamal Khashoggi.
Biden made the comments to the press on Saturday when asked if he would punish Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman for his role in the murder of journalist Khashoggi.
“There will be an announcement on Monday on what we’re going to do with Saudi Arabia in general,” Biden told reporters. The White House did not immediately return a request to provide more details on the announcement.
Khashoggi, a 59-year-old US resident and Washington Post columnist, was a critic of the Saudi royal family. He entered the Saudi consulate in Istanbul on October 2, 2018 and never left.
Khashoggi was killed, his body dismembered, and his remains were never found.
The office of the director of national intelligence released a report on Friday that the Saudi crown prince approved the operation that killed Khashoggi, citing bin Salman’s control over decision-making in Saudi Arabia.
The previously classified CIA assessment also mentioned the involvement of a key advisor and members of the prince’s protection service in the operation that killed Khashoggi.
The New York Times reported on Friday that the Biden administration would not sanction the crown prince for Khashoggi’s murder. The White House has ruled that such an action would be too costly for U.S.-Saudi cooperation in the areas of counterterrorism and confrontation with Iran, according to the Times.
However, in a diplomatic reprimand to the crown prince, the White House made it clear this week that Biden does not view bin Salman, 35, as his counterpart and that he would instead maintain relationships through his aging father, the King Salman.
Bin Salman has been the public face of the kingdom since he became crown prince in 2017.
Secretary of State Antony Blinken also imposed visa restrictions on 76 Saudi people on Friday who “were allegedly engaged in threats to dissidents abroad, including, but not limited to, the murder of Khashoggi.” .
When asked why the Crown Prince was not among those punished, Blinken stressed the importance of American interests and not severing relations with Saudi Arabia.
The Saudi government, in a statement on Friday, said it “completely rejects” the report’s findings as unacceptable, saying the assessment contained inaccurate information.
Riyadh condemned Khashoggi’s murder as a “heinous crime” that violates the laws and values of the kingdom, attributing his death to a rogue group.
– CNBC’s Spencer Kimball contributed to this report
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