An already controversial meeting risked turning into a diplomatic row when Mr Biden, upon his arrival back in the US, strongly contradicted the account of the meeting given by Adel al-Jubeir, the Saudi foreign minister. Whether Biden would confront Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman over the killing of the Washington Post dissident and journalist was a point of contention when the President’s first Middle East tour was announced. He has been widely criticized for putting oil before blood, particularly given that he had vowed to turn Saudi Arabia into a “pariah” state during his presidential campaign because of the brutal killing. The CIA believes the young reformist crown prince sent the hit team that kidnapped Khashoggi to the consulate in Istanbul and brutally dismembered his body. Mohammed bin Salman has always flatly denied it. On Friday, Mr Biden had insisted he had raised Mr Khashoggi’s death with the crown prince in a closed-door meeting. “Regarding the Khashoggi murder, I put it at the top of the meeting, making it clear what I thought about it at the time and what I think about it now. “I was direct and direct… I made my point crystal clear. What happened to Khashoggi was outrageous.”
