President Joe Biden who has harshly criticized the oil-rich kingdom for its human rights abuses, particularly the murder of Jamal Khashoggi, a US-based journalist said he raised the murder of Jamal Khashoggi at the beginning of his meeting with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.
“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,” Mr. 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.
His murder has loomed over Mr. Biden’s efforts to reset relations with Saudi Arabia.
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.
The Saudis held a subdued welcome for Mr. Biden at the airport in Jeddah, with none of the ceremonies that accompanied his stop this week in Israel.
Mr. Biden was greeted by Mecca’s governor, Prince Khalid bin Faisal, and Saudi Arabia’s ambassador to the US, Princess Reema bint Bandar, and then walked down a lavender carpet that led to the limousine that whisked him to the palace.
The president was scheduled to sit down with King Salman, the 86-year-old monarch who has suffered from poor health, including two hospital admissions this year. Then he was to participate in a broader meeting including Prince Mohammed, the presumed heir to the throne who is known by his initials MBS.
Mr. 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.
The president’s three hours at the royal palace in Jeddah were seen as a diplomatic win for the crown prince, who has tried to rehabilitate his image, draw investments to the kingdom for his reform plans, and bolster the kingdom’s security relationship with the U.S.
