Published on : 15/07/2022 – 22:57
US President Joe Biden said on Friday he had warned the Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia of a “response” on his part in the event of a new attack on dissidents, in reference to the “scandalous” assassination of journalist Jamal Khashoggi.
The American President Joe Biden spoke on Friday, July 15, during his visit to Saudi Arabiaafter meeting King Salman and Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman (MBS), powerful de facto leader of the Saudi kingdom, considered by Washington as the sponsor of the assassination of the journalist Jamal Khashoggi.
The American president notably declared to have warned the crown prince of Saudi Arabia of a “response” on his part in the event of a new attack against dissidents, in reference to the “scandalous” assassination of the Saudi journalist.
“I just made it clear that if something like this happens again, they will have this answer and much more,” he told reporters in Jeddah, saying he raised the matter with Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.
Joe Biden also said after his meeting with the crown prince that he repeated to him that he held him responsible for the journalist’s death.
“Blood on Your Hands”
The meeting between Joe Biden and Mohammed bin Salman was the high point of this tour in the Middle East, while Washington seeks to convince the kingdom to open the floodgates of its oil production. The challenge: to lower the price of a gallon of gasoline as the midterm elections in the United States approach.
But when he was still a candidate, Joe Biden promised to treat Saudi Arabia as a “pariah”, in particular because of the 2018 assassination of the journalist and Saudi critic Jamal Khashoggi. Once elected, he had declassified a damning report on the responsibility of the prince in this murder.
The Saudi authorities have always denied direct responsibility of MBS in this murder.
On Friday, the journalist’s widow, Hatice Cengiz, posted a tweet with a screenshot of her late spouse’s account: “Is this your way of holding accountable those responsible for my murder?”
“The blood of MBS’s next victim is on your hands,” it added, along with a photo of Joe Biden’s fist check at the Saudi prince.
With AFP and Archyde.com