The Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia Muhammad Ben Salman Al Saud commented on in a conversation with US President Joe Bayden the murder of journalist Jamal Khashkaji in 2018, noting that the kingdom authorities had investigated, and the perpetrators of the crime appeared before the trial. This was announced by Al Arabiya, citing an unnamed Saudi official.
The channel notes that during the meeting on Friday the Crown Prince, responding to Biden’s replica about the murder of a Saudi journalist, said that “what happened is regretted.”
“We took all legal measures in the kingdom – from the investigation and trials to the decision and execution of the court decisions. The kingdom also took measures to prevent the repetition of such errors in the future,” the source of the word Muhammad Ben Salman.
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According to the source, the Crown Prince told Biden that “such incidents are taking place all over the world.” In this context, he mentioned the murder of the Israeli sniper of the journalist of Al Jazeera, Shirin Abu Akele, expressing the doubt that the United States fully reacted to this incident.
In addition, Muhammad Ben Salman criticized Washington’s policy in the Middle East. In particular, he called the actions of American troops in the Abu Graib prison in Iraq “One of the US mistakes.” “The Crown Prince told the American president that the United States also made mistakes, such as the incident in Abu Graib in Iraq,” the source said.
On Friday, Baiden held negotiations with the leadership of Saudi Arabia in Gidd, which was attended by Muhammad Ben Salman. Speaking about the murder of Khashkaji, Biden noted that he “raised this issue at the very beginning of the meeting, clearly making it clear what I thought about it then and what I think now.”
One of the journalists asked how the Crown Prince reacted to his words. “He, in fact, said that he was personally not responsible for this,” Bayden answered.
Jamal Khashkaji, known for his critical articles on Er-Riyad’s policy, since 2017 lived in the United States, where he collaborated with The Washington Post. He disappeared on October 2, 2018 after visiting the Consulate General of Saudi Arabia in Istanbul. On October 20 of the same year, the Saudi authorities reported that the journalist was killed in the building of the diplomatic mission as a result of the conflict.