Biden says, he raised Khashoggi murder with Saudi Crown Prince
   Date :17-Jul-2022

US President Joe Biden
 
 
JEDDAH :
 
PRESIDENT Joe Biden said he brought up the murder of Jamal Khashoggi in his meeting Friday with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, rejecting the idea that he was ignoring the kingdom’s human rights abuses as he tries to reset a critical diplomatic relationship. “I said, very straightforwardly, for an American President to be silent on an issue of human rights is inconsistent with who we are and who I am,” Biden said. “I’ll always stand up for our values.” US Intelligence believes that the crown prince likely approved the killing of Khashoggi, a US-based writer, four years ago. Biden said Prince Mohammed claimed that he was “not personally responsible” for the death.
 
“I indicated I thought he was,” the President said he replied. It was the first encounter between the two leaders, beginning with a fist bump outside the royal palace in Jeddah, in a relationship that could reshape security partnerships in the Middle East and the flow of oil worldwide. ‘Russian officials visited Iran to view drones’: THE White House says Russian officials have visited an airfield in central Iran at least twice in recent weeks to view weapons-capable drones it is looking to acquire for use in its ongoing war in Ukraine. The administration released the intelligence as President Joe Biden was to meet Saturday with the leaders of six Arab Gulf countries, plus Egypt, Jordan and Iraq for a regional summit.