President Joe Biden on Thursday wouldn't commit to bringing up the murder of Jamal Khashoggi when he meets with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman but said his position on human rights has 'been clear.'
Biden, speaking at a press conference in Israel, dodged a question on whether he would speak about the assassination of the Washington Post journalist when he meets with MBS, the de facto ruler of Saudi Arabia, on Friday.
'My views have made it positively clear. I have never been quiet about talking about human rights,' he said when asked about the meeting.
The president, when pressed again, said his position is 'clear.'
'I always bring up human rights but my position on Khashoggi had been clear. If anyone doesn't understand it in Saudi Arabia or anywhere else, then they haven't been around for a while,' he said.
Biden called Saudi Arabia a 'pirah' state during the 2020 campaign after U.S. intelligence agencies concluded that MBS ordered Khashoggi's muder in Turkey in 2018. The journalist had written criticially of the crown prince's reforms.
The White House has said Biden stands by that statement but it also has taken great pains to emphasize the president is meeting with the aging King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud and his government, which would include MBS, who is Salman's heir to the throne and serves as defense minister.
Biden heads to Saudi Arabia on Friday. He will meet the royals that night. On Saturday he'll attend the GCC+3 summit to talk oil prices and energy issues.
'The reason I'm going to Saudi Arabia, though, is much broader as to promote U.S. interests,' he said at his press conference with Israeli Prime MIinister Yair Lapid.
'I think we have an opportunity to reassert what I think we made a mistake of walking away from - our influence in the Middle East. I'm going to meet with nine other heads of state. There are so many issues at stake. I want to make clear that we can continue to lead in a region and not create a vacuum,' he said.
He was also clear he wants to counter growing Russian and Chinese influence in the region. Russia is the second largest energy producer in the world after Saudi and China is a huge energy consumer and purchaser.
'The vacuum is filled by China or Russia - against the interest of Israel and the United States. The purpose of the visit is to coordinate with the nine heads of state,' he said.
Human rights advocates have encouraged Biden not to make the trip without bringing up Khashoggi's killing.
Khashoggi's widow, Hanan Elatr Khashoggi, said that a national security official told her that Biden will mention her late husband's name when he meets with MBS,
'They assured me they will bring this concern up special, about the case of my husband, Jamal Khashoggi,' she told Spectrum News.