White House press secretary Jane Saki did not directly say on Sunday whether President Biden would take action to personally approve Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman for the death of Saudi dissident Jamal Khashoggi – saying only that “more Effective “means.
“We believe there are more effective ways to ensure that this does not happen again and at the same time be able to leave space to work with the Saudis on areas where there is mutual agreement – where the United Is the national interest of the state ” Psaki said on CNN’s “State of the Union”.
He said, ‘This is what diplomacy looks like. That is what complex global engagement looks like. And we have not made any secret and it is clear that we will hold them accountable on the global stage and with direct actions.
CNN anchor Dana Bash pressured him that Biden slapped sanctions on other Saudi officials, but spared bin Salman – also known by his early MBS – US resident and journalist for the Washington Post in 2018 For Khashogi’s death.
“So they are not being punished like punishing the hitman and not the mob bosses who are actually knocking out the hits?” Bash asked Saki.
“Previously and historically, and even in recent history in Democratic and Republican administrations, restrictions have not been imposed for leaders of foreign governments where we have diplomatic relations and even where our diplomatic relations are not Are, ”said Psa.
Facing criticism from bipartisan Congress legislators for not taking direct action against bin Salman, Biden said there would be more Mondays to come on Saturday.
In response to a question from The Post, Biden said, “Usually there will be an announcement on Monday about what we are going to do with Saudi Arabia.”
The Biden administration released an intelligence report last Friday blaming Khashogi’s death on the state’s de facto ruler, bin Salman.
“We believe that the Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia approved an operation in Istanbul, Turkey to capture or kill Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi,” the report said.
It cited bin Salman’s control of “decision-making” in the oil-rich country and the involvement of members of a major top advisor and his security detail as evidence.
“Since 2017, the Crown Prince has had full control of the Kingdom’s security and intelligence organizations, making it unlikely that Saudi authorities would have operated of this nature without the Crown Prince’s authorization,” the report states.
Leave a Reply