Biden news today: MBS hits back at President over Jamal Khashoggi murder

President Joe Biden discussed food security and energy supply disruptions with Egyptian president Abdel Fattah al-Sisi as they met in person for the first time.

The two leaders met in Jeddah on Saturday where they spoke about climate change, reviving a Palestinian peace process and the operation of the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD).

The GERD has been at the centre of an ongoing standoff between Egypt and Ethiopia for years.

Cairo has said that the construction of the huge dam on the River Nile could restrict water access to Egypt. Egyptian officials said Mr al-Sisi spoke about his desire for a legally binding agreement over the operation of the dam.

The White House said that Mr Biden also congratulated Mr al-Sisi for Egypt presiding over the 27^th United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP 27) in Sharm El Sheikh this November and its role in tackling the climate crisis.

“Both leaders emphasized their countries’ support for the Global Methane Pledge (GMP) and the new GMP Energy Pathway, which Egypt has joined with respect to the oil and gas sector,” the statement read.

“The two leaders reaffirmed the U.S. and Egypt’s new partnership on Adaptation in Africa, which the US and Egypt will co-lead, focused on delivering concrete initiatives that will improve people’s lives and help build resilience to a changing climate. The leaders committed to convene the Joint US-Egypt Climate Working Group as soon as possible.”

The meeting marks a further thawing of relations between the two nations after the two leaders previously clashed over human rights issues.

Relations started to improve after Egypt made efforts to broker a ceasfire in Gaza in May 2021.

On 2 October 2018, Jamal Khashoggi – a The Washington Post journalist and outspoken critic of the Saudi government – was murdered inside the Saudi consulate in Istanbul.

US officials said that the murder was carried out by a team of intelligence operatives with ties to the Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman – known as MBS – before his body was dismembered with a bone saw.

The Saudi Arabian government initially denied any involvement in the killing before going on to claim that the operatives killed him accidentally while trying to extradite him to Saudi Arabia.

US intelligence agencies later concluded that MBS had ordered his killing.

MBS has long denied any responsibility – a denial he continued to stick to when he came face to face with President Joe Biden on Friday.

A US lawyer who defended murdered journalist Jamal Khashoggi has been detained in the UAE, sparking further controversy around President Joe Biden’s trip to the Middle East.

Asim Ghafoor, a US citizen and civil rights attorney from Virginia, was detained at Dubai airport on Thursday while travelling to Istanbul for a family wedding, according to Democracy for the Arab World Now (DAWN).

The human rights group said Mr Ghafoor is now being held in a detention facility in Abu Dhabi on charges related to an in absentia conviction for money laundering.

Mr Ghafoor had no prior knowledge of any conviction, DAWN said in a statement on Friday.

The Independent’s Rachel Sharp has the full story:

President Joe Biden came under fire on Friday when he was caught on camera greeting the Saudi crown prince with a casual fist bump.

US intelligence found that Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman – aka MBS – was responsible for ordering the death of journalist Jamal Khashoggi.

Watch the awkward meeting between Mr Biden and MBS below:

President Joe Biden posed for a “family photo” with the Saudi crown prince, hours after the two men exchanged harsh words over the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi.

The photos show the president shoulder to shoulder with Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman along with other leaders from the Middle East on Saturday, on what marked the last day of his four-day trip to the region.

Also in the photos were: Bahrain’s King Hamad bin Isa bin Salman al-Khalifa; Egyptian President Abdel Fattah Al Sisi; Jordan’s King Abdullah II; Qatar’s Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani; Kuwait’s Crown Prince Meshal al-Ahmad al-Jaber al-Sabah; Iraq’s Prime Minister Mustafa Kadhemi; United Arab Emirates President Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed al-Nahyan and Asaad bin Tariq al-Said, a special representative for the Sultan of Oman.

The so-called “family photo” comes after Friday’s meeting between Mr Biden and MSB where the US president said he confronted the Saudi crown prince over his role in the death of Khashoggi.

The meeting itself was a source of controvery, particularly given Mr Biden’s statements during his 2020 White House race that he would make Saudi Arabia a “pariah”.

The president instantly sparked further backlash when he greeted MSB with a friendly fist-bump at the start of the meeting.

President Joe Biden departed Saudi Arabia on Saturday marking the end of his controversial Middle East trip.

The president waved as he boarded Air Force One at King Abdulaziz International Airport in Jeddah.

The White House released a brief statement sharing the details of a meeting between President Joe Biden and King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa of Bahrain in Jeddah on Saturday.

“The President underscored the United States’ appreciation for the longstanding strategic partnership with Bahrain, including its hosting of the U.S. Navy Forces Central Command/5^th Fleet,” the White House said.

“The two leaders affirmed their commitment to strengthening defense, security, economic, commercial, and people-to-people ties. “President Biden commended Bahrain’s expanded ties with Israel through the Abraham Accords and the Negev process. The two leaders discussed mutual efforts to foster regional integration and deepen security cooperation.”

The meeting marked one of several meetings Mr Biden held with Middle East leaders during his four-day trip.

President Joe Biden met with Jordan’s King Abdullah II in Jeddah on Saturday where the two leaders discussed efforts to advance the partnership between the two nations and work together in “addressing regional and international challenges”.

Following the meeting the White House released a statement revealing Mr Biden had announced plans to enter into a new memorandum of understanding (MOU) with Jordan.

“President Biden announced the intention of the United States to enter into a new memorandum of understanding (MOU) for assistance for Jordan, in which the United States plans to make a commitment to support the provision of no less than $1.45 billion per year in U.S. bilateral foreign assistance to Jordan, beginning in FY 2023 and ending in FY 2029,” the statement read.

“One of the most significant bilateral instruments of its kind, the MOU represents a major U.S. political commitment to Jordan’s stability and the durability of the partnership.

“The MOU is designed to address Jordan’s extraordinary needs, supports King Abdullah II’s economic reform program, and ensure the long-term strength of the close partnership between the United States and Jordan.”

President Joe Biden has formally invited UAE President Sheik Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan to visit the US by the end of 2022.

“Challenges you face today only make it a heck of a lot more important we spend time together,” Mr Biden told his UAE counterpart.

“I want to formally invite you to the States.”

The two leaders met on Saturday as part of Mr Biden’s last day in Saudi Arabia. The UAE president took office in May.

President Joe Biden promised that the US “will not walk away” from the Middle East as he celebrated the withdrawal of American troops from the region.

Speaking at the Gulf Cooperation Council on Saturday, Mr Biden insisted that the US was not leaving behind a “vacuum” that could be filled by the likes of China, Russia or Iran.

“We will not walk away and leave a vacuum to be filled by China, Russia or Iran,” he said.

“We will seek to build on this moment with active, principled, American leadership.”

Mr Biden said that a lot had changed since he last visited the Middle East when he was vice president in the Obama administration.

“Around the world, we’re seeing efforts to undermine the rules-based order: with China’s increasingly coercive actions in the Indo-Pacific and beyond; with Russia’s brutal and unprovoked war against its neighboring Ukraine; and with Iran’s destabilizing activities.  Here in the Middle East, we’ve also seen critical changes,” he said.

“For the first time since 9/11, an American President is visiting this region without American troops being engaged in combat — in a combat mission in the region… today, I am proud to be able to say that the era of land wars in the region — wars involving huge numbers of American forces — is not underway.”

US forces continue to target terrorists in the region with the US military killing the leader of Islamic State in Syria Maher al-Agal in a drone strike earlier this week.

“We maintain both the capacity and the absolute determination to suppress the terrorist threat wherever we find it,” said Mr Biden.

“We’re going to continue our counterterrorism efforts working with a broad coalition of countries, including everyone around this table. And we will turn our attention and our resources to supporting our partners, strengthening our alliances, and building coalitions to solve the problems facing this region and the world — and the world today.”