Saudi prince didn’t know about Khashoggi killing: Trump
Steve Holland and Matt Spetalnick and Humeyra Pamuk |
US President Donald Trump insists that Mohammed bin Salman knew nothing about the killing of journalist Jamal Khashoggi by Saudi agents, offering a fierce defence of the visiting Saudi crown prince that contradicts a US intelligence assessment.
The controversy over the 2018 killing of Khashoggi, a Washington Post columnist and US-based critic of the Saudi leadership, flared again in the Oval Office in front of cameras as the kingdom’s de facto ruler made his first White House visit in more than seven years, seeking to further rehabilitate his global image tarnished by the incident.
US intelligence agencies concluded that bin Salman approved the capture or killing of Khashoggi at the Saudi consulate in Istanbul. The crown prince denied ordering the operation but acknowledged responsibility as the kingdom’s de facto ruler.
“A lot of people didn’t like that gentleman that you’re talking about, whether you like him or didn’t like him,” Trump told reporters in the Oval Office with bin Salman sitting beside him.
“Things happened, but he knew nothing about it, and we can leave it at that,” he said on Tuesday.
Bin Salman said it had been “painful” to hear about Khashoggi’s death but that his government “did all the right steps of investigation”.
“We’ve improved our system to be sure that nothing happened like that. And it’s painful and it’s a huge mistake,” he told reporters.
Trump, who chided the reporter who asked the Khashoggi question “to embarrass our guest”, also praised the crown prince for doing an “incredible” job on human rights but did not elaborate.
Trump’s treatment of bin Salman prompted a rebuke from Khashoggi’s widow.
“There is no justification to murder my husband. While Jamal was a good transparent and brave man many people may not have agreed with his opinions and desire for freedom of the press,” Hanan Elatr Khashoggi wrote on X, urging bin Salman to meet with her.
The crown prince was greeted with a lavish display of pomp and ceremony presided over by Trump on the South Lawn, complete with a military honour guard, a cannon salute and a flyover by US warplanes.
The meeting underscores a key relationship – between the world’s biggest economy and the top oil exporter – that Trump has made a high priority in his second term as the international uproar around the killing of Khashoggi has gradually faded.
The White House later announced that Trump had approved future deliveries of F-35 fighter jets and the Saudis had agreed to purchase 300 American tanks.
The two sides also signed a Strategic Defense Agreement, which “fortifies deterrence across the Middle East”, the White House said.
It provided few details of the agreement, which appeared to fall short of the congressionally ratified NATO-style treaty Saudi Arabia initially sought from Trump.
The sale of the stealth fighter jets to the kingdom, would mark the first US sale of the advanced fighter jets to Riyadh, a significant policy shift.
The deal could alter the military balance in the Middle East – until now, Israel has been the only country in the region to have the F-35.
The two countries also signed a joint declaration on the completion of negotiations on civil nuclear energy co-operation, which the White House said would build the legal foundation for a long-term nuclear energy partnership.
Bin Salman has been seeking a deal to unlock access to US nuclear technology and help Saudi Arabia level up with the UAE and traditional regional foe Iran.
But progress on such a nuclear pact has been difficult because the Saudis have resisted a US stipulation that would rule out enriching uranium or reprocessing spent fuel – both potential paths to a bomb.
Trump said earlier that he could see a deal on civilian nuclear power happening, but added, “It’s not urgent”.
Reuters
