Jamal Kasogi’s fiancée’s criticizes President Joe Biden for his planned trip to Saudi Arabia, which was likely to include a face-to-face meeting with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman – de facto violence of 2018. murder of the journalist. Hatice Cengiz said that by meeting the MBS, as the Saudi leader is often called, Biden would offend human rights defenders around the world. “President Biden’s decision to meet with the MBS is horrific for me and for the advocates of freedom and justice everywhere,” Hatice Cengiz told CNN. Foreign policy experts and veteran diplomats also questioned the wisdom of Biden’s planned visit to Saudi Arabia. “A presidential trip to Saudi Arabia at the moment will be a confirmation, a confirmation not only that it is commonplace, but that the MBS escaped murder,” said Aaron David Miller, a former US diplomat who has advised many foreign ministers on the Middle East. . , he told Insider last week. Dalia Dassa Kaye, a senior fellow at the UCLA Burkle Center for International Relations, told Insider that Biden’s trip to the kingdom would be a “serious mistake”, adding: “This is a bad deal for Biden – it risks his reputation and compatible with the authorities for modest returns “. Kasogi was killed in October 2018 at the Saudi consulate in Istanbul. The Saudi journalist went to the consulate with the impression that he would obtain a document that would allow him to marry Genghis. His assassination by Saudi agents sparked outrage in Washington and prompted many congressional lawmakers to urge the United States to dramatically reassess its relationship with the kingdom. Biden entered the White House pledging to recalibrate the US-Saudi relationship, promising to make the oil-rich country a “pariah”. After years of President Donald Trump ensuring that the MBS would not face the consequences of the assassination of Kasogi – a Washington Post columnist and US citizen when he was assassinated – the Biden administration released a declassified intelligence report that directly linked him. murder. The Biden government imposed sanctions in consultation with the report, but stopped imposing sanctions on the MBS. Biden also said the United States would stop supporting the Saudi-led coalition in the war in Yemen and slammed the MBS, saying it would only formally communicate with Salman. There were early indications that Biden would live up to his commitments – although critics, including Democrats in Congress, have accused him of falling behind on issues such as Yemen due to continued arms sales to the Saudis. But the Russia-Ukraine war and the ensuing oil crisis, which pushed gas prices soaring, have pushed Biden to the corner. With interim terms on the horizon, Biden is now seeking Riyadh’s help in dealing with the crisis. According to a CNN report, senior US officials have told the Saudi government that the Biden administration is ready to embrace a “resumption” of relations between Washington and Riyadh. This essentially means that the common good is allowed to prevail over the MBS’s punishment for Kasogi’s assassination. “Both sides have decided that for the sake of peace and stability in the Middle East, we must overcome this,” an unnamed senior US official told CNN, referring to Kasogi’s assassination.
