The American president, expected Friday in Djedda, responds in the “Washington Post” to the criticisms which accuse him of denying himself. He had promised to make the petroleum monarchy a “pariah” after the assassination of journalist Jamal Khashoggi.
Le Monde with AFP
The exercise is used to defuse controversy and prepare the ground. In anticipation of his next trip to Saudi Arabia, the American president, Joe Biden, announced, in a column published Saturday July 9 by the Washington Post , want to” strengthen a strategic partnership that is based on interests and mutual responsibilities, while respecting fundamental American values ”.
In this text titled “Why i’m Going to Saudi Arabia” (“why I go to Saudi Arabia”), the American president, who goes to Israel on Tuesday and then Friday to Djedda in Saudi Arabia, responds to criticisms that accuse him of denying himself in order to extract from Saudi Arabia the promise of producing more oil. Joe Biden had, before his election, promised to make the oil monarchy an international “pariah” because of the assassination of dissident journalist Jamal Khashoggi in 2018.
“I know that many do not agree with my decision to go to Saudi Arabia. My views of human rights are clear and lasting, and fundamental freedoms are always on the program when I travel, and they will be during this trip, “says the American president. He recalls having declassified an explosive report of American intelligence concerning the circumstances of the death of Jamal Khashoggi.
But he does not quote in his gallery the name of the Crown Prince Mohammed Ben Salman, who, according to this same report, “validated” the assassination. Joe Biden must meet him in Djedda next week, as part of an extended meeting around King Salman.
“Stabilize the petroleum market”
“My work as president is to ensure the solidity and security of the country”, justifies the 79 -year -old democrat, citing the need to “counter” Russia, to put himself in “the best possible position” facing to China and to ensure “greater stability” in the Middle East. “To do these things, we must have a direct relationship with countries that can contribute to them. Saudi Arabia is one,” explains Joe Biden.
“In Saudi Arabia, we overthrew the white check policy that we inherited” from the previous president Donald Trump, adds Joe Biden. He specifies: “From the start, my goal has been to redirect – but not to break up – relations with a country that has been our strategic partner for eighty years.”
The American president also refers to an important issue of his trip: oil, at a time when the high prices of petrol exasperate the Americans and weigh the electoral prospects of his party. Riyadh, he says, “works with my experts to help stabilize the oil market”. Washington would like all Gulf countries to open the valves to lower the courses.
a region “full of Challenges “
Joe Biden first planned to meet the interim Israeli Prime Minister, Yaïr Lapid, and the Palestinian leader, Mahmoud Abbas. Then he will fly Friday for Djedda, the first direct link of this kind between the Hebrew State and an Arab country which does not recognize its existence. Donald Trump had already made this journey with a very strong symbolic dimension, but in the opposite direction.
The Middle East is “less under pressure and more integrated than eighteen months ago”, when he arrived at the White House, assures Joe Biden. He notably mentions the rapprochement between Israel and several Arab countries, started under the supervision of the former Republican president. The Biden Administration “works to deepen and extend” this process, said the Democratic president.
Joe Biden wants to “make progress” in the face of a region that remains “full of challenges”, between the Iranian nuclear program, and the unstable situation in Syria, Libya, Iraq, Lebanon … but it No less discern “promising trends” in the region, believing that “the United States can strengthen them like no other country can. This is what my trip will be used for next week.