President Biden
Joe BidenBiden is ‘disappointed’ with the Senate’s parliamentary ruling, but ‘respects’ the ruling. Taylor Swift celebrates the Equality Act Housing Act. On Friday, he said he would hold Saudi Arabia accountable after the government released a report revealing that Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman had ordered the assassination of US journalist Jamal Khashoggi.
In an interview with Univision, Biden outlined a conversation he had with Saudi King Salman on Thursday, in which he stressed that the US would strive for Riyadh to honor human rights amid continuing criticism of the assassination of Khashoggi, a columnist of The Washington Post who lived in Virginia and was critical of the Saudi royal family.
“I spoke to the king yesterday, not to the prince. It made it clear to him that the rules were changing and that we were going to announce important changes today and Monday. We will hold them accountable for human rights violations and we will make sure that if they want to deal with us, they have to deal with it in a way that the human rights violations are handled, ”Biden said.
“And we’re trying to do it all over the world,” he continued. ‘But especially here this report sat there, the last government would not even publish it. We immediately, when I came in, submitted the report, read it, got it and released it today. And that’s outrageous what happened. ”
The remarks come as dual legislators on Capitol Hill call for a new alignment of Washington’s historically close relationship with Riyadh. The frustration with Saudi Arabia is not only increasing over Khashoggi’s assassination, but also the Saudi-backed offensive against Houthi rebels in Yemen, which according to observers has exacerbated a humanitarian crisis in the country.
“I am hopeful that this is only a first step and that the government plans to take concrete measures to hold Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman personally responsible for his role in this heinous crime,” Sen. Bob Menendez
Robert (Bob) MenendezSenate confirms Thomas-Greenfield as UN Ambassador. The memorandum: Biden bet big on immigration. Biden pushes extensive paths to citizenship as immigration bill ends up in Congress MORE (DN.J.), chair of the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations, said in a statement referring to the release of the report.
In response to the report, Biden’s government on Friday imposed sanctions on people involved in Khashoggi’s assassination and imposed visa restrictions on 76 Saudis believed to be involved in the threat of dissidents abroad.
The White House, however, did not announce any specific punishment for Mohammed, the daily ruler of the kingdom.
Khashoggi was killed at the Saudi consulate in Istanbul where he was trying to obtain documents for a marriage license. Turkish authorities said they believed Khashoggi had been strangled on arrival and later broken into in an attempt to hide his body.