After Joe Biden pointed out to the Saudi prince that he held him responsible for Khashoggi’s murder, Mohammed bin Salman hit back and the US has made mistakes, including in Iraq.
Joe Biden and the crown prince of Saudi Arabia, Mohammed bin Salman, had a verbal brawl during the US president’s visit to Riyadh.
After Joe Biden pointed out to the Saudi prince that he held him responsible for Khashoggi’s murder, Mohammed bin Salman hit back and the US has made mistakes, including in Iraq.
In particular, Mohammed bin Salman told Joe Biden that Riyadh acted proactively to avoid mistakes, such as the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi, but that the US also made mistakes, including in Iraq.
The official in a written statement obtained by Reuters, referring to yesterday’s discussion between the two leaders, said that the de facto leader of Saudi Arabia said that trying to impose certain values ​​on other countries could backfire.
Prince Mohammed also highlighted the killing of Palestinian-American journalist Sherin Abu Akleh during an Israeli raid in the West Bank, while also mentioning the Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq.
For his part, the US president said that he raised the issue of the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, information that was confirmed by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Saudi Arabia.
“I told Mohammed bin Salman that I believed he was personally responsible for Khashoggi’s murder,” Biden said after talks in Jeddah with the crown prince. The latter replied that he was not personally responsible for the murder of the journalist.
The American president added that he also raised with his interlocutor the issue of human rights and the need for political reforms. “I made it clear that the issue is of vital importance to me and the United States,” he told reporters at a news conference.
Minutes earlier, Khashoggi’s fiancee, Hatiche Cengiz, complained on Twitter that Biden has stained his hands with “the blood of the next victim” of the Saudi crown prince.
Imagining what her partner would have written, Cengiz addressed Biden with the following post: “This is how you hold those responsible accountable for my murder? The blood of MBS’s (Mohammed bin Salman’s initials) next victim is on your hands.”
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