[ad_1]
The new president of the United States, Joe Biden, called the Saudi King Salman for the first time on Thursday. The White House later said that Biden had told the king that he would work to “make bilateral relations as strong and transparent as possible.” The President of the United States had reaffirmed the importance that the United States attaches to human rights and the rule of law. The ad did not mention Khashoggi’s murder.
The leadership of the Islamic-conservative kingdom was exposed to harsh criticism after Khashoggi’s disappearance. She only admitted the murder under international pressure. The traces led to the closest circle of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, who denied ordering the murder himself.
A UN human rights expert concluded in 2019 that there was credible evidence of possible personal responsibility of the heir to the throne and other high-ranking representatives of Saudi Arabia. A few weeks after the crime, the Washington Post reported that the US Secret Service had concluded with a high degree of certainty that the Crown Prince had ordered the assassination.
Biden’s predecessor, Donald Trump, had made billions in arms deals with Riyadh. The Republican was an important ally of the crown prince with a rather lax attitude towards the human rights situation in Saudi Arabia. Washington imposed sanctions on more than a dozen former Saudi government employees in connection with the journalist’s murder. Trump maintained his support for the royal family in Riyadh.
