News Alert: Biden fist-bumps Mohammed bin Salman as he arrives for controversial meeting with Saudis [View all]

[Celerity]

https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2022/07/15/biden-saudi-mbs/



JIDDAH, Saudi Arabia — President Biden greeted Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman with a fist bump Friday as he arrived here for a controversial meeting with the Saudi leader, a high-stakes diplomatic engagement that marked a reversal of Biden’s promise to make the kingdom a “pariah” state for its human rights violations.

Biden and bin Salman, along with their top aides, met Friday night at a large rectangular table in the Al Salam Royal Palace, where they were expected to address a range of issues from oil production to human rights to the war in Yemen. The meeting followed Biden’s two-day visit to Israel.

Neither leader, however, answered questions from reporters, who sought to ask Biden if Saudi Arabia was still a “pariah” and the crown prince if he would apologize to the family of Jamal Khashoggi, a contributing columnist for the Washington Post and an outspoken critic of Saudi Arabia who was murdered in 2018. U.S. intelligence officials have determined the crown prince ordered Khashoggi’s killing by Saudi agents, though he has denied that.

Biden arrived in Jiddah from Tel Aviv on Friday afternoon, descending Air Force One on a light purple carpet, and was greeted by a small coterie of Saudi officials. Unlike the elaborate and effusive welcome ceremony that greeted him Wednesday when he arrived in Israel, Biden was only on the tarmac at King Abdulaziz International Airport for one minute before entering the presidential limousine and departing.

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