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Saudi Arabia finally congratulated Joe Biden on Sunday on his victory in the US presidential election, more than 24 hours after he defeated Donald Trump, who had close personal ties to Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman (MBS).
The former US vice president pledged in his campaign to reevaluate ties with the kingdom, demanding more responsibility for the murder of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi at the Riyadh consulate in Istanbul and calling for an end to US support for the Yemen war. .
As other Arab states were quick to applaud the Democratic challenger, MBS, the kingdom’s de facto ruler, remained silent on the United States vote even as he sent warm words to the Tanzanian president on his re-election. Trump has refused to give up the race and vowed to challenge the result.
At 19:32 GMT on Sunday, King Salman of Saudi Arabia and his son MBS congratulated Biden and Vice President-elect Kamala Harris on winning the election, the state news agency SPA reported.
“King Salman praised the distinguished, historical and close relations between the two friendly countries and their people that all seek to strengthen and develop at all levels,” added SPA.
MBS’s relationship with Trump had provided a buffer against international criticism about Riyadh’s rights record sparked by Khashoggi’s assassination, Riyadh’s role in the Yemen war, and the detention of female activists.
Those areas may now become sticking points between Biden and Saudi Arabia, a major US oil exporter and arms buyer.
“The only thing worse than COVID-19 would be BIDEN-20,” wrote Saudi Twitter user Dr. Muna, while many other Saudi users of the social media platform simply ignored the result in the first hours after the networks Americans called for Biden’s election.
A Saudi political source downplayed the risk of a fight between the kingdom and the United States, pointing to Riyadh’s historic ties to Washington.
But Saudi Arabia’s Okaz newspaper offered a sense of uncertainty about how the future unfolds for the kingdom. “The region is waiting … and preparing … for what happens after Biden’s victory,” he wrote in a front-page story.
US President-elect Joe Biden defeated Donald Trump on Saturday [Andrew Harnik/AP Photo]Saudi concerns
The kingdom may not have long to wait. Neil Quilliam, an associate member of Britain’s Chatham House think tank, said the Biden administration will likely seek to signal early its dissatisfaction with Saudi Arabia’s domestic and foreign policies.
“The Saudi leadership is concerned that a Biden administration and hostile Congress will carry out a full review of relations, including reevaluation of defense ties, and thus are likely to make positive sounds and move towards the end. Yemen conflict, “he said.
Saudi Arabia was an enthusiastic supporter of Trump’s “maximum pressure” for tough sanctions on regional rival Iran. But Biden has said he would revert to a 2015 nuclear pact between world powers and Tehran, a deal negotiated when Biden was vice president in former US President Barack Obama’s administration.
Abu Zaid, a cashier at a supermarket in Riyadh, said he hoped Biden would take a different approach. “I am not happy with Biden’s victory, but I hope he learns from Obama’s mistakes and realizes that Iran is a common enemy,” he said.
A Saudi political source said the kingdom had “the ability to deal with any president because the United States is a country of institutions and there is a lot of institutional work between Saudi Arabia and the United States.”
“Relations between Saudi Arabia and the United States are deep, sustainable and strategic and are not prone to change because a president changes,” he said.
MBS had denied ordering Khashoggi’s assassination, but in 2019 acknowledged some personal responsibility by saying that it happened under his command. Riyadh has imprisoned eight people for between seven and 20 years in the case.
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