A source familiar with Friday’s controversial meeting between the two leaders told CNN that the crown prince, known as MBS, responded by mentioning the death of Palestinian-American journalist Shireen Abu Akleh and incidents where US soldiers abused detainees at Iraq’s Abu Ghraib detention center. The source said MBS told Biden that the two incidents reflect badly on the US. Abu Akleh was shot and killed in May while covering an Israeli military operation in the West Bank. The US has come under fire for its response to her death, with the journalist’s family and the Palestinian Authority calling on US officials to hold Israel accountable. On Friday, Mr Biden visited the West Bank with Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, where he insisted the US was committed to a “full and transparent accounting” for her killing. MBS also referred to the abuse of prisoners by the US military at the start of the US invasion of Iraq. Back in 2004, graphic photos emerged from Abu Ghraib prison showing US military personnel torturing and sexually abusing Iraqi prisoners they had captured and held there. The photos eventually led to the conviction of 11 US soldiers. Saudi Arabia’s crown prince raised the two disputes after Biden told him he believed he was responsible for ordering Khashoggi’s assassination – something US intelligence has concluded. On October 2, 2018, Jamal Khashoggi – a Washington Post reporter and outspoken critic of the Saudi government – was assassinated inside the Saudi consulate in Istanbul by a group of intelligence agents with ties to MBS. Khashoggi’s body was then brutally dismembered with a bone saw. The Saudi government initially denied any involvement in the killing before going on to claim that agents accidentally killed him while trying to extradite him to Saudi Arabia. Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman speaks to US President Joe Biden during the Jeddah Security and Development Summit on Saturday (Saudi Royal Palace/AFP via Getty) US intelligence later concluded that MBS had ordered the strike. MBS continues to deny any responsibility for the brutal murder, doubling down on his innocence when he came face-to-face with Biden on Friday. After the meeting, Biden told reporters that he pressed MBS over the “outrageous” killing of Khashoggi. “I made my point clear … for an American president to be silent on a human rights issue is inconsistent with who we are and who I am,” he said. The Biden administration has been forced to defend his decision to visit Saudi Arabia and meet with MBS, particularly given Mr Biden’s statements during his 2020 bid for the White House that he would make Saudi Arabia a “pariah”. . The president sparked further backlash when he greeted MBS with a friendly fist bump at the start of Friday’s meeting. Mr. Biden met with several Middle Eastern leaders during his four-day trip to the region, which was in part aimed at reaching deals with oil-rich nations and, ultimately, easing the pain for Americans caused by the current excessively high gas prices. During the visit, it also emerged that an American lawyer who had previously defended Khashoggi was detained in the United Arab Emirates on Thursday while traveling to Istanbul for a family wedding. Human rights group Democracy for the Arab World Now (DAWN) said Mr Ghafoor was being held in a detention center in Abu Dhabi on charges related to a money laundering conviction in absentia. The American citizen and civil rights attorney from Virginia, who previously worked as Khashoggi’s lawyer, had no prior knowledge of any conviction, DAWN reported.
