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by Steve Holland and Jarrett Renshaw
JEDDAH, Saudi Arabia (Reuters) – U.S. President Joe Biden arrived in Saudi Arabia on Friday for a visit aimed at repairing Washington’s relations with a country to which he had promised “pariah” status on the international scene after the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi in 2018.
The head of the White House spoke with Crown Prince Mohamed bin Salman about other Saudi officials with whom he was to discuss issues of oil and energy security, defense and regional security as well as human rights.
According to a February 2021 report, Crown Prince Mohamed bin Salman directly approved of the killing of Washington Post columnist Jamal Khashoggi at the Saudi Consulate in Istanbul in October 2018. Mohamed bin Salman has always denied any involvement.
Joe Biden said after his meeting with the crown prince that he told him again that he held him responsible for the journalist’s death.
Before going to Saudi Arabia, and in response to criticism in the United States of his visit, Joe Biden said his position on Khashoggi had always been “absolutely” clear and assured that he would raise with his interlocutors the question of the human rights.
THE “BALANCE” OF THE ENERGY MARKETS UNDER DISCUSSION
Joe Biden’s desire to reconnect with Saudi Arabia is explained by the geopolitical upheavals induced by the war in Ukraine and in particular the new global deal on energy security.
The US president and his advisers have decided not to isolate the kingdom, the world’s largest oil exporter, as Riyadh strengthens its ties with Russia and China.
The United States is trying to convince Saudi Arabia and its OPEC partners to produce more oil to bring down crude prices, whose surge in recent months is fueling record inflation.
“We will sweep through a wide range of bilateral and regional topics, in order to complete months of diplomacy and position the United States and our partners for the future, so as to advance our interests and theirs,” said a senior official. American.
Among the topics that were to be discussed in particular will be the strengthening of the truce in the war in Yemen, the “balance” of the energy markets and technological cooperation on 5G and 6G mobile networks.
In an op-ed in Politico, Saudi Arabia’s Ambassador to Washington, Reema bint Bandar Al Saud, said joint U.S.-Saudi efforts to secure regional peace should focus on greater cooperation. supported and the “strengthening of a system based on rules”, contrary to “the vision of chaos promoted by Iran”, the great adversary of Riyadh in the Middle East.
The Gulf States share Israel’s concerns over Tehran’s nuclear and ballistic missile programs and denounce the influence of the Islamic Republic in the Arabian Peninsula.
During his visit to Israel, the first leg of his visit to the region, Joe Biden signed with Prime Minister Yair Lapid a joint commitment to prevent Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons.
Joe Biden is the first American president to fly directly to the Saudi kingdom from the Jewish state, “a small symbol” of the warming of ties between Israel and Saudi Arabia, in the words of the White House.
Riyadh gave its tacit agreement to the normalization of relations between Israel and two other Gulf oil monarchies, the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain, two years ago.
Shortly before Joe Biden’s visit, Saudi Arabia announced the opening of its airspace to all airlines, opening up the possibility of more flights to or from Israel, a welcome move by Washington.
(With contributions from Ghaida Ghantous in Dubai and Omar Fahmy in Cairo; French version Jean-Stéphane Brosse, editing by Kate Entringer)
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