Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman advised President Joe Biden that Saudi Arabia had acted to forestall a repeat of errors just like the killing of journalist Jamal Khashoggi and that the USA had additionally made errors, together with in Iraq, a Saudi minister mentioned.
Biden mentioned on Friday he advised Prince Mohammed he held him answerable for the 2018 homicide of Washington Publish journalist Khashoggi on the Saudi consulate in Istanbul, in a while after exchanging a fist bump with the dominion’s de facto ruler.
“The President raised the problem… And the crown prince replied that this was once a painful episode for Saudi Arabia and that it was once a horrible mistake,” the dominion’s Minister of State for Overseas Affairs, Adel al-Jubeir, mentioned.
Those that had been accused had been dropped at trial and punished with jail phrases, he mentioned.
US intelligence businesses imagine the crown prince ordered Khashoggi’s killing, which he denies.
Jubeir, chatting with Reuters about Friday’s dialog between the 2 leaders, mentioned the crown prince had made the case that looking to impose values through drive on different international locations may just backfire.
“It has now not labored when the United States attempted to impose values on Afghanistan and Iraq. In reality, it backfired. It does now not paintings when other people attempt to impose values through drive on different international locations,” Jubeir quoted the prince, referred to as MbS, as telling Biden.
“International locations have other values and the ones values will have to be revered,” MbS advised Biden.
The trade highlighted the tensions that experience weighed at the courting between Washington and Riyadh, its closest Arab best friend, over a number of problems, together with Khashoggi, top oil costs, and the Yemen struggle.
Biden, who landed in Saudi Arabia on Friday on his first Heart East go back and forth as president, held a summit on Saturday with six Gulf states and Egypt, Jordan, and Iraq whilst downplaying his assembly with Prince Mohammed. That come across has drawn grievance at house over human rights abuses.
Biden had promised to make Saudi Arabia a “pariah” at the world level over the 2018 homicide of Khashoggi, however in the long run determined US pursuits dictated bettering members of the family with the sector’s most sensible oil exporter and Arab powerhouse.
After the summit, the leaders accumulated for a gaggle image, at which Biden saved his distance from Prince Mohammed.
“His Royal Highness discussed to the President that errors like this occur in different international locations, and we noticed a mistake like this being dedicated through the USA in Abu Ghraib (jail in Iraq),” Jubeir mentioned.
Prince Mohammed additionally raised the killing of Palestinian-American journalist Shireen Abu Akleh all the way through an Israeli raid within the West Financial institution.
Abu Akleh, who labored for the Al Jazeera community, was once shot within the head on Would possibly 11 whilst reporting on an Israeli raid within the occupied West Financial institution town of Jenin.
Palestinians imagine she was once killed intentionally through Israeli troops. Israel denies its infantrymen shot her on function and says she will have been killed both through errant military hearth or a shot fired through a Palestinian gunman.
Jubeir rejected the accusation that Saudi Arabia has loads of political prisoners.
“That is completely now not right kind. We’ve prisoners in Saudi Arabia who’ve dedicated crimes and who had been placed on trial through our courts and had been discovered in charge,” he mentioned.
“The perception that they might be described as political prisoners is ridiculous,” he added.
Washington has softened its stance on Saudi Arabia since Russia invaded Ukraine previous this 12 months, triggering some of the global’s worst power provide crises.
READ | ‘Blood for your fingers’: Biden’s fist bump with Saudi prince angers murdered US journo’s fiancée
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