Saudi Arabia said on Saturday (July 16th) that the assassination of critical journalist Jamal Khashoggi was a "tragedy" that needed no elaboration, after US President Joe Biden mentioned it during his visit to Saudi Arabia. Gulf monarchy.

Critic of power after being close to it, Jamal Khashoggi was assassinated in the Saudi consulate in Istanbul in 2018. The American intelligence services have pointed the responsibility of Crown Prince Mohamed bin Salman, poisoning relations between Riyadh and Washington

Nicknamed MBS, the de facto ruler of the kingdom, receiving the US president on Friday, "explained (to Joe Biden) that this was a tragedy for Saudi Arabia", according to the Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Adel al-Jubeir.

The crown prince assured that "those responsible have been investigated, faced justice and are now paying for the crime", he added in an interview with CNN.

Asked about an American intelligence report designating MBS as the sponsor of the operation, the Saudi minister launched: "We know well what the intelligence had concluded about Saddam Hussein's weapons of mass destruction", which did not never existed.

Culprits "punished"      

Adel al-Jubeir also clarified that the kingdom believes that the Khashoggi case has been sufficiently dealt with, even if the remains of the journalist have never been found. 

The Saudi official also highlighted the "errors" of the United States, citing the case of Abu Ghraib, this Iraqi prison where American soldiers practiced torture and humiliating treatment.

In 2020, a Saudi court sentenced eight people to terms ranging from seven to 20 years in prison for the murder.

Their names were never released, and Khashoggi's fiancée called the judgment a "farce".

"The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia has investigated this crime. The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia has held those responsible to account, and they are paying the price for the crime they have committed right now," he said. Adel al-Jubeir. 

"We investigated, we punished and we have procedures in place to ensure that it doesn't happen again. That's what countries do in situations like this." 

Jamal Khashoggi's fiancee expressed outrage at the meeting between Joe Biden and Mohammed bin Salman, imagining what her companion would have thought of the visit.

"Is this your way of holding accountable those responsible for my murder? The blood of the next victim of MBS (nickname of Mohammed bin Salman, editor's note) is on your hands," she tweeted on Friday.

With Reuters and AFP

The summary of the

France 24 week invites you to come back to the news that marked the week

I subscribe

Take international news everywhere with you!

Download the France 24 app

google-play-badge_EN