JEDDAH, Saudi Arabia (AP) — President Joe Biden said he raised the issue of the killing of Jamal Khashoggi early in his meeting with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman on Friday.
“I’ve said very bluntly that for an American president to be silent on a human rights issue is inconsistent with who we are and who I am,” Biden said. “I will always stand up for our values.”
US intelligence believes the crown prince may have approved the killing of Khashoggi, a US-based writer, four years ago. His assassination has loomed over Biden’s efforts to restore relations with Saudi Arabia.
Biden also announced that US peacekeepers would leave the Red Sea island of Tiran by the end of the year, part of an agreement reached during what he called a “good series of meetings” in Jeddah.
THIS IS UPDATED NEWS. Earlier AP story follows below.
JEDDAH, Saudi Arabia (AP) — President Joe Biden held a carefully choreographed meeting Friday with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, the man he once shunned for human rights abuses, as the two leaders seek to rebuild one of the country’s most important world diplomatic relations.
The meeting, which began with a fist bump as Biden stepped out of his presidential limousine, could change security partnerships in the Middle East and the flow of oil globally.
Biden’s three hours at the royal palace in Jeddah were seen as a diplomatic victory for the crown prince, who has sought to rebuild his image, attract investment to the kingdom for his reform plans and strengthen the kingdom’s security relationship with the US
Biden appeared to approach it as a necessary, if somewhat unpleasant, step to improve relations with the world’s largest oil exporter at a time of rising gas prices and concerns about Iran’s nuclear ambitions.
The meeting sparked outrage from critics who believed Biden was reneging on his promises on human rights, particularly regarding the killing of Jamal Khashoggi, a US-based journalist who wrote for The Washington Post.
“The confrontation between President Biden and Mohammed bin Salman was worse than a handshake — it was shameful,” Post publisher Fred Ryan said in a statement. “It projects a level of intimacy and comfort that affords MBS the unwarranted redemption he desperately seeks.”
Khashoggi was killed by Saudi government agents four years ago, and a US intelligence report said the crown prince likely approved the operation.
The United States has played down expectations of any immediate increase in Saudi oil production, which could help ease high gas prices that are politically damaging to Biden at home. But the White House said it expected “further steps” in the coming weeks that would “help significantly stabilize markets.”
The current OPEC+ deal expires in September, opening the door to potentially higher production after that.
Rising gas prices, compounded by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, are among the factors that have prompted Biden to reassess his approach to Saudi Arabia.
The US president has long refused to speak to Prince Mohammed, the heir-apparent to the throne currently held by his father, King Salman. But those concerns have been overshadowed by other challenges, including Iranian aggression in the Middle East and faltering efforts to use diplomacy to prevent Iran from developing a nuclear weapon.
At the same time, Saudi Arabia wants to strengthen its security relationship with the United States and secure investment to transform its economy into one less dependent on pumping oil.
The Saudis gave Biden a subdued welcome at Jeddah airport, without any of the ceremony that accompanied his stop earlier this week in Israel.
Biden was greeted by the governor of Mecca, Prince Khalid bin Faisal, and Saudi Arabia’s ambassador to the US, Princess Reema bint Bandar, before walking a lavender carpet that led to the limousine that took him to the palace.
The president sat down with King Salman, the 86-year-old monarch who has suffered ill health, including two hospitalizations this year. Journalists were not allowed in the room, but the Saudis released a video of Biden shaking hands with the king as the crown prince looked on.
Biden and Prince Mohammed then held a broader meeting with several advisers. The two men sat facing each other, an arrangement that burned away the feeling that they were doppelgängers. It’s an image the crown prince, known by his initials MBS, is eager to promote as he cements his path to the throne after removing, detaining and seizing the assets of royal rivals and critics.
There has been considerable speculation about both the choreography and substance of how Biden, who had vowed as a presidential candidate to treat Saudi Arabia as a “pariah” because of its human rights, would interact with Prince Mohammed.
Access for journalists was restricted. The traveling White House press corps was not present when Biden punched the crown prince, and reporters were only allowed in briefly to meet them. Almost none of their remarks were heard. Biden did not respond when reporters asked if he still considered Saudi Arabia a pariah, nor did Prince Mohammed respond to a pointed question about whether he would apologize to Khashoggi’s family.
It is unclear whether Biden raised the issue of Khashoggi’s assassination directly with Prince Mohammed, and he did not publicly commit to doing so before arriving in Saudi Arabia.
“My views on Khashoggi were absolutely, positively clear. And I’ve never been silent about speaking out about human rights,” Biden said earlier this week. “However, the reason for going to Saudi Arabia is much broader. It’s about advancing US interests — advancing US interests in a way that I think we have an opportunity to reassert what I think we’ve made a mistake by walking away from: our influence in the Middle East.
On Saturday, he will attend a meeting of leaders from the Gulf Cooperation Council – Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates – before returning to Washington. The leaders of Middle Eastern neighbors Egypt, Iraq and Jordan will also attend, and Biden’s national security adviser said Biden will make a “major statement” about his vision for the Middle East.
The Saudi visit is one of the most delicate that Biden has faced on the international stage. Any success in calming relations could pay diplomatic dividends as the president seeks to ensure stability in the region.
But it could also lead to more serious criticism of Biden, already floundering in the polls at home, for backing away from promises to put human rights at the center of foreign policy.
“If we ever needed a visual reminder of the continued influence of oil-rich autocrats on US foreign policy in the Middle East, we got it today,” tweeted Congressman Adam Schiff, D-Calif. “A punch is worth a thousand words.”
Khashoggi’s fiancee, Hatice Cengiz, said that by visiting Saudi Arabia, Biden was backing away from human rights.
“It’s actually a very big step back,” Cengiz told The Associated Press in an interview Thursday. “It’s heartbreaking and disappointing. And Biden will lose his moral authority by putting oil and expediency above principles and values.”
Saudi political analyst Turki al-Hamad said he was not optimistic about the prospects for Biden’s trip.
“Biden and his team will come and focus on the US election and improving the Democrats by coming up with a deal to increase oil production,” Hamad tweeted, saying it “doesn’t matter to Saudi guide’.
Aaron David Miller, a senior fellow at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace and a former US State Department official, said Biden was looking forward to visiting Saudi Arabia “like I would look forward to a root canal.”
Miller contrasted Biden with his predecessor, Donald Trump, who visited Saudi Arabia on his first trip abroad. That visit was highlighted by the leaders gathered around a glowing orb and Trump briefly joining in a ceremonial sword dance.
With Biden and Prince Mohammed, “there won’t be a lot of sword dancing or smiling photos or warm hugs,” Miller said.
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Batrawy reported from Dubai, Nikmeyer from Sacramento, California, and Megerian from Washington.
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