JEDDAH, Saudi Arabia: President Joe Biden said he raised the murder of Jamal Khashoggi at the beginning of his meeting with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman on Friday.
“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.”
U.S. intelligence believes that the crown prince likely approved the killing of Khashoggi, a U.S.-based writer, four years ago. His murder has loomed over Biden’s efforts to reset relations with Saudi Arabia.
Biden also announced that U.S. 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.
Earlier, President Joe Biden on Friday held a carefully choreographed meeting with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, the man he had once shunned for human rights abuses, as the two leaders sought to reset one of the world’s most important diplomatic relationships.
The encounter, which began with a fist bump as Biden stepped out of his presidential limousine, could reshape security partnerships in the Middle East and the flow of oil worldwide.
Biden’s three hours at the royal palace in Jeddah was 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.
Biden seemed to approach it as a necessary if somewhat distasteful step to improve relations with the the world’s top oil exporter at a time of rising gas prices and concern about Iran’s nuclear ambitions.
The meeting drew outrage from critics who believed Biden was abandoning his pledges on human rights, particularly when it came to the murder of Jamal Khashoggi, a U.S.-based journalist who wrote for The Washington Post.
“The fist bump between President Biden and Mohammed bin Salman was worse than a handshake — it was shameful,” said a statement from Fred Ryan, the Post’s publisher. “It projected a level of intimacy and comfort that delivers to MBS the unwarranted redemption he has been desperately seeking.”
Khashoggi was killed by Saudi government agents four years ago, and a U.S. intelligence report said the crown prince likely approved the operation.
The United States played down expectations for any immediate increases in Saudi oil production, which could help alleviate high gas prices that are politically damaging to Biden back home. But the White House said it anticipated “further steps” over coming weeks that “will help stabilize markets considerably.”
The current OPEC+ agreement expires in September, opening the door to potentially higher production after that.
Rising gas prices, which were compounded by the Russian invasion of Ukraine, are one of the factors that prompted Biden to reassess his approach to Saudi Arabia.