President Biden faces criticism for visiting Saudi Arabia, whose de facto ruler Mohammed bin Salman is suspected of orchestrating the killing of Jamal Khashoggi.
Bin Salman has denied being involved in the brutal Oct. 2, 2018, slaying of the Saudi citizen Khashoggi in the country's Istanbul consulate by a team of intelligence operatives linked to the prince."Absolutely not," Bin Salman told the CBS News show"60 Minutes" when asked if he ordered the killing.
"This was a heinous crime," he said in that interview."But I take full responsibility as a leader in Saudi Arabia, especially since it was committed by individuals working for the Saudi government."Saudi Arabias Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman takes part in a working session with the US President Joe Biden at the Al Salam Royal Palace in the Saudi coastal city of Jeddah, on July 15, 2022.
Before his killing, Khashoggi was living in exile in the United States in order to write without the risk of being jailed by his home country.— Khashoggi's newspaper — justifying his visit to Saudi Arabia. "From the start, my aim was to reorient — but not rupture — relations with a country that's been a strategic partner for 80 years," Biden wrote in that article, which mentions the slain journalist by name once.
"I know that there are many who disagree with my decision to travel to Saudi Arabia," the president wrote."My views on human rights are clear and long-standing, and fundamental freedoms are always on the agenda when I travel abroad, as they will be during this trip, just as they will be in Israel and the West Bank."
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