Bin Salman calls Khashoggi's murder "regrettable"

The arrival of US President Joe Biden in Saudi Arabia has already become a momentous occasion for Middle East diplomacy. Relations between the US and Saudi Arabia had been characterised in recent years by a certain distance and cooling. Among many reasons, the murder of Saudi journalist and Washington Post contributor Yamal Khashoggi, and the CIA investigation accusing Saudi Prince Mohammed bin Salman of ordering his assassination, caused relations between the two countries to go through one of their most complicated moments. 

However, the meeting between Biden and bin Salman, held as part of the US president's Middle East tour, has managed to bring the two countries closer together and foster understanding. In a meeting that lasted three hours, the murder of Khashoggi was one of the topics on the agenda. Following Biden's reproaches, Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman described the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi as a "regrettable" act. 

The crown prince stressed that Saudi Arabia had carried out "all legal procedures" in the case, ranging from investigations, trials and implementation of sentences. The Kingdom also reportedly decreed a series of procedures to prevent similar cases from happening again. 

However, bin Salman tried to defend his country's position after arguing that cases like the Saudi journalist's "happen all over the world" and added that, in the same year, "other journalists were killed in different countries". In this sense, the crown prince also blamed the United States for having committed similar crimes, such as the torture carried out in the Iraqi prison of Abu Ghraib.

For bin Salman, the important thing is that "countries address these mistakes" and carry out procedures to prevent similar situations from happening again.  

In addition, the Saudi prince raised the murder of Palestinian-American journalist Shireen Abu Akleh, a dual Palestinian-American citizen, while she was covering the forced evictions of Palestinians in West Bank neighbourhoods. Bin Salman asked Biden what steps countries had taken to shed light on her death and criticised the silence about the perpetrators of her murder. During his visit to Bethlehem, Biden reportedly called on the authorities to conduct "a full and transparent investigation" and said that Akleh's death was "a huge loss".  

At the moment a US-led investigation group has not yet reached "any definitive conclusions" but said that the bullet that killed the reporter "probably" came from the Israeli side. 

After the meeting, bin Salman said that all countries, especially the US and Saudi Arabia, share "correct values and principles", especially at a time of heightened multilateralism and multipolarity.  

According to the prince, trying to impose values by force is "counterproductive", as would have been demonstrated in Iraq and Afghanistan, where the US would not have succeeded.  

"It is important to know that each country has different values and must be respected (...) if we assume that the United States will only deal with countries that share 100% of its values and principles, it will only deal with NATO countries", which is why, in his opinion, the two countries must "coexist", despite their differences. 

Americas Coordinator: José Antonio Sierra.