WH mum on whether Biden will mention Jamal Khashoggi in Saudi Arabia after widow puts down pressure

The Biden administration is reportedly unwilling to provide a sneak preview about whether Jamal Khashoggi’s name will get a mention during the president’s Saudi Arabia visit where he is scheduled for a sit-down with the monarchy’s leader on Friday.

Journalist Khashoggi was reportedly murdered in October 2018 at the Saudi embassy in Istanbul, Turkey, allegedly with a green light from the regime’s top echelon.

As part of Middle East diplomacy, Biden is ostensibly heading to Saudi Arabia to beg for oil.

During the 2020 election cycle, Biden branded Saudi Arabia a “pariah” for its human rights abuses. Moreover, fifteen of the 19 hijackers that carried out the 9/11 terrorist attacks were reportedly Saudi citizens.

“Biden will meet with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman (MBS) later this week following appearances in Israel. Khashoggi’s widow, Hanan Elatr Khashoggi, met with White House officials last week, and she says they assured her that Khashoggi’s name would come up,” Fox News reported on Thursday.

Khashoggi “was heavily critical of MBS,” Fox recalled.

Given his various high-level positions in his country’s government, MBS, 36, is the de facto ruler of oil-rich Saudi Arabia.

Given the massive inflationary spiral in the U.S., which includes lots of pain for consumers at the pump, it would seem perhaps that MBS has significant leverage over Biden. The U.S. POTUS has reversed America from energy independence to dependence with disastrous ramifications as well as initiating an economic calamity with a Democrat-enacted federal spending spree.

“We’re not in the habit of previewing private discussions we have with other leaders before they happen, but President Biden took actions with respect to the Khashoggi murder right after coming into office,” White House officials told Fox News. “The president’s views on human rights are clear and longstanding, and fundamental freedoms are always on the agenda when he travels abroad, just as they will be during this trip.”

It may depend on whether Khashoggi’s name is listed on Biden’s, staff-prepared cheat sheet.

In another development, Biden has no plans to hold a customary press conference before or after meeting with MBS in the country’s commercial center, the New York Post reported.

“Biden’s two-day Saudi stopover amid high gas prices serves to legitimize the crown prince after US spy agencies determined that he ordered the 2018 hit that resulted in the murder of Virginia-based Washington Post columnist Jamal Khashoggi. The president has denied he’s arriving hat-in-hand to beg for oil…Biden insists he’s simply going to Jeddah for a larger gathering of regional countries,” the news outlet added.

Still apparently pushing the “Putin price hike” talking point, the  New York Times claimed on Thursday that “With Russia’s invasion of Ukraine affecting oil prices and Iran believed to be expanding its nuclear capabilities, Mr. Biden suddenly needs Saudi Arabia’s help — and must confront the reality that the only way to get it is through Prince Mohammed…Regardless of the trip’s outcome, the image of Mr. Biden meeting Prince Mohammed on his own turf will provide validation of the young royal’s position at the helm of one of the most important countries in the Middle East…”

Referencing Biden’s critics, the Times wondered: “How, they ask, will the United States discourage other autocrats from crushing their critics after overlooking Prince Mohammed’s abuses in the hope that he can bring down gas prices?”

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