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Biden refuses to speak with Prince Mohammed bin Salman and communicates directly with King Salman
US President Joe Biden said on Wednesday (February 24) that he had seen an intelligence report on the circumstances of the murder of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi at his country’s consulate in Istanbul in 2018, and that he would speak soon with the Saudi King, Salman bin Abdulaziz.
On Thursday, February 25, the Biden administration will release a declassified copy of a U.S. intelligence report into the murder of the Saudi journalist.
“The report indicates that the Saudi crown prince, Prince Muhammad bin Salman, has accepted and is likely to have ordered the assassination of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi,” the Reuters news agency said, citing four US officials.
Before his death, the late Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi wrote several articles in the Washington Post criticizing the policies of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.
In late 2018, members of the US Congress saw a classified copy of the CIA report on Khashoggi’s murder. However, the administration of former President Donald Trump has refused repeated calls by human rights groups to release information about the report.
“Reset relationship”
And White House spokeswoman Jane Saki previously said on Wednesday February 24 that “President Biden will only communicate with the Saudi King.”
The White House spokeswoman had previously confirmed that “Biden did not plan to contact the Saudi Crown Prince and Minister of Defense, Prince Muhammad bin Salman.” “We are evaluating our relationship with Saudi Arabia,” Saki explained, and part of what she said is that “we will have peer-to-peer contact, and that means, as you know, that last week, the US Secretary of Defense had a conversation with Mohammed bin Salman, and that’s good peer-to-peer communication. “.
It appears that the administration of US President Joe Biden is trying to reframe the relationship with his Saudi counterpart and return to the form of relations between the two countries before the Trump administration, which paid more attention to cooperation based on distant economic interests. questions of democracy and human rights.
Since the Biden administration came to power, it was clear that the human rights dossier would be part of its relationship with Saudi Arabia, with the White House calling on Riyadh to improve its record on human rights, including the release of women’s rights activists and other political prisoners. .
Biden called on February 4 for an end to the war in Yemen and announced that the United States would stop supporting the operations of the Arab coalition led by Saudi Arabia. At the same time, however, he pledged to continue to support Saudi Arabia and help it defend its sovereignty and lands.
Democratic President Biden also overturned his Republican predecessor Trump’s decision to designate the Houthis as a terrorist movement.
The Biden administration has also agreed to sit with the Iranians at the negotiating table to discuss the possibility of reverting to the Iran nuclear deal.
Saudi Arabia and the Biden Administration
On February 10, 2021, Saudi authorities released activist Loujain Al-Hathloul after being held for almost three years. Saudi authorities arrested Loujain in May 2018, including charges relating to undermining national security and attempting to serve a foreign program in Saudi Arabia.
Al-Hathloul faces strict restrictions after his release, including being placed under surveillance and a five-year ban on travel outside the country.
Saudi officials confirm that the release of Al-Hathloul is a court case, but opposition voices link the timing of the release to Biden’s rise to power in the White House.
The discussion is renewed, with the forthcoming publication of a report on the circumstances of the assassination of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi, on the responsibility of the Saudi crown prince in the assassination decision.
Saudi officials at first denied any knowledge of Khashoggi’s fate, but then their accounts changed with increased media pressure that continued as Turks showed evidence that Saudi agents were responsible for the murder of Khashoggi.
Finally, Riyadh admitted the responsibility of Saudi agents, calling them “thugs”, for the murder of the Saudi journalist. However, official Saudi Arabia confirms that Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman does not know or accept Khashoggi’s murder.
A Saudi court handed down death sentences on five people for Khashoggi’s murder, but the death sentences were reduced to 20 years in prison last September.
Former US President Trump’s administration refused to explicitly hold the Saudi crown prince responsible for Khashoggi’s murder.
Will the nature of the relationship between Washington and Riyadh change after the release of the report on the circumstances of Khashoggi’s murder?
What do you think the relationship between the United States and Saudi Arabia will look like under the Biden administration?
Why does Biden insist on not speaking to Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman?
We’ll discuss these and other topics with you in the Friday, February 26 episode.
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