{"id":66857,"date":"2021-02-25T14:42:27","date_gmt":"2021-02-25T14:42:27","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/en.bornomalanews.com\/?p=66857"},"modified":"2021-02-25T14:42:27","modified_gmt":"2021-02-25T14:42:27","slug":"biden-says-has-seen-intelligence-report-on-saudi-journalists-murder","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/en.bornomalanews.com\/?p=66857","title":{"rendered":"Biden says has seen intelligence report on Saudi journalist\u2019s murder"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"News Desk: US President Joe Biden said Wednesday he has already seen a soon-to-be released intelligence report detailing the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi inside the Saudi consulate in Istanbul.<\/p>\n

\u201cYes I have,\u201d he told reporters when asked if he\u2019d read the intelligence assessment. Earlier, the White House said the unclassified report would be out \u201csoon.\u201d<\/p>\n

Press Secretary Jen Psaki said Biden was also \u201csoon\u201d due to speak with Saudi Arabia\u2019s King Salman for the first time since taking office in January.<\/p>\n

Psaki would not confirm a report in Axios that the Biden call with Salman would take place Wednesday and that the unclassified intelligence report would be published Thursday. Asked when the call would take place, Biden only said: \u201cWe\u2019re going to be talking to him, I have not spoken to him yet.\u201d<\/p>\n

Khashoggi, a Saudi who wrote for The Washington Post and was a US resident, was killed and dismembered in 2018 inside the Saudi consulate in Istanbul. The CIA has directly linked Saudi Arabia\u2019s de facto leader Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman to the murder. He has accepted overall responsibility, as his country\u2019s leader, but denies a personal link.<\/p>\n

Biden has stressed he will \u201crecalibrate\u201d the US relationship with Saudi Arabia. This will mean steering away from former president Donald Trump\u2019s reliance on Prince Mohammed and dealing directly with the king, the White House says.<\/p>\n

However, there are clearly limits to how far the Biden administration is ready to go in punishing oil-rich Saudi Arabia, a strategic ally in the Islamic world.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe will speak out when there are human rights abuses, about the lack of freedom of speech, or the lack of freedom of media and expression,\u201d Psaki said. \u201cAt the same time, we have a long relationship with Saudi Arabia.<\/p>\n

They are being attacked in the region and that is certainly an area where we continue to work with them.\u201d The contents of the intelligence report will pile pressure on the Saudi leadership, which got little pushback from the Trump administration.<\/p>\n

Already the episode has badly tarnished the reputation of the powerful crown prince who had positioned himself as a forward thinking reformer in the monarchy.<\/p>\n

According to CNN on Wednesday, court documents in a Canadian civil lawsuit filed earlier this year show that two private jets used by the squad allegedly sent to murder Khashoggi were owned by a company earlier seized by Prince Mohammed.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

News Desk: US President Joe Biden said Wednesday he has already seen a soon-to-be released intelligence report detailing the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi inside the Saudi consulate in Istanbul. \u201cYes I have,\u201d he told reporters when asked if he\u2019d read the intelligence assessment. Earlier, the White House said the unclassified report would be out […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":66858,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[2,5],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\t\n\t\n\n\n\t\n