‘It could happen in any country’
Saudis on slaying
JEDDAH: Saudi Arabia’s Prince Mohammed bin Salman has told US President Joe Biden the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi was regrettable – but that incidents like that happen “anywhere in the world”.
Although Mr Biden described Saudi Arabia as a “pariah state” after Mr Khashoggi was killed and dismembered in its Istanbul consulate, and US intelligence said Prince Mohammed had approved the 2018 murder, the pair met in Jeddah on Saturday.
The Al-Arabiya TV channel quoted a Saudi official as saying the pair “addressed the issue of Jamal Khashoggi quickly” and that Prince Mohammed “confirmed that what happened is regrettable and that we have taken all legal measures to prevent” a recurrence.
Prince Mohammed also pointed out that “such an incident occurs anywhere in the world”, highlighting “a number of mistakes” made by Washington such as torturing detainees at Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq, Al-Arabiya reported.
In remarks after the meeting, Mr Biden called Mr Khashoggi’s death “outrageous” and said he had warned Prince Mohammed against further attacks on dissidents, without specifying what actions he might take.
In an interview with CNN, Foreign Minister Adel al-Jubeir cast doubt on the intelligence claim that Prince Mohammed ordered the operation, something he denied.
Mr al-Jubeir also made clear the kingdom believed the Khashoggi affair had been sufficiently dealt with, even though the dissident journalist’s remains have never been found. A Saudi court in 2020 jailed eight people for between seven and 20 years over the killing. Their names were never released and Mr Khashoggi’s fiancee branded the ruling a “farce”.
“The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia investigated this crime. The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia held those responsible for it accountable, and they are paying the price of the crime they committed as we speak,” Mr al-Jubeir said.
“We investigated, we punished and we put in place procedures to ensure this doesn’t happen again.
“This is what countries do in situations like this.”
Despite lingering discord over the Khashoggi killing, the meeting between Prince Mohammed and Mr Biden “went well, with a frank exchange of opinions”, Ali Shihabi, a Saudi analyst, said.
“Prince Mohammed responded to Biden, pointing out US double standards of making a huge noise about Khashoggi (a Saudi) while trying their best to downplay the assassination of Shireen Abu Akleh even though she is a US citizen,” Mr Shihabi said, referring to the Palestinian-American journalist shot dead in May while covering an Israeli army raid in the West Bank.