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The President of the United States, Joe Biden, spoke by telephone with King Salman of Saudi Arabia. Biden stressed the importance the U.S. attaches to universal human rights and the rule of law, the White House said.
Biden made the call after reading a U.S. report on the assassination of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi, a critic of the Saudi leadership. The report, which will be published soon, is expected to implicate the king’s son, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, in the assassination. Biden’s predecessor, Donald Trump, has pursued closer ties with Saudi Arabia. His administration has rejected a legal request to release the report in declassified form, while Biden is expected to take a tougher stance. During the assassination inside the Saudi consulate in Istanbul, in 2018, Khashoggi’s body was dismembered.
The crown prince has denied involvement. Saudi authorities have blamed a group of agents for the killing and sentenced five individuals to 20 years in prison last September. The White House said President Biden and King Salman also discussed the “long-standing partnership between the United States and Saudi Arabia,” as well as the threat posed to Saudi Arabia by pro-Iranian groups. “The president told King Salman that he would work to make the bilateral relationship as strong and transparent as possible,” the White House said in a statement.
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