US intelligence agencies believe Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman ordered the 2018 killing of Khashoggi, a Saudi-American national, which the de facto Saudi leader denies. Speaking to reporters as he arrived at the White House from his first trip to the Middle East as president, Biden disputed the Saudi foreign minister’s statement that he did not hear Biden blame Mohammed bin Salman for the killing of the Washington Post columnist, a fierce critic. of his homeland. Saudi Arabia. Sign up now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com Register Asked if Secretary of State Adel al-Jubeir was telling the truth when he recounted the exchange between Biden and the crown prince, the president said “No.” Jubeir said the crown prince, known as MbS, had told Biden that the kingdom had acted to prevent mistakes like Khashoggi’s assassination from happening again and that the United States had also made mistakes. read more The minister told Fox News on Saturday that he “didn’t hear that particular phrase” from Biden accusing the crown prince. A Saudi official who was present at the meeting said the exchange was not as described by President Biden and the Khashoggi discussion took place before the official meeting in an “informal manner.” The official said he did not hear the president tell the crown prince that he held him responsible for Khashoggi’s murder. Biden, asked if he regretted trading an initial clash with MbS on Friday, replied: “Why don’t you talk about something that matters? I’m happy to answer a question that matters.” Sign up now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com Register Reporting by Shivam Patel in Bengaluru. Edited by William Mallard and Raissa Kasolowsky Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.
