The report, ordered by Congress, which is expected to further implicate Saudi Arabia’s powerful Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman in the death of the Washington Post columnist, is expected to happen soon, now that Biden and the king have spoken. .
There was no mention of Khashoggi in reading the White House call, which said Biden welcomed the release of several Saudi-American activists and “affirmed the importance that the United States attach to universal human rights and the rule of law”. When asked by a reporter on Thursday whether it was a good call, the president replied, “Yes”. A source close to the Saudi government told CNN that it “went well”. White House officials said the report would not be released until the call was made.
The release of the report will only be the last change that Biden is making, with the support of Congress, in relations with Saudi Arabia, a US ally. Democratic lawmakers are due to present a resolution on Friday to hold Saudi Arabia accountable for Khashoggi’s death and dismemberment, as well as for other human rights violations.
A signal
Dennis Ross, who has worked on Middle East issues in various administrations, said that Biden is using the report’s release to send a message to Congress, where bipartisan anger towards Saudi Arabia has simmered in recent years, as well as the kingdom itself.
“In addition to responding to what was a legislative mandate, he sends a signal to Congress and I think it is also the government’s way of saying to Saudi Arabia: ‘We are not going to protect you from the consequences of bad behavior, so it is better to avoid these behaviors, “said Ross, now an adviser to Washington’s Near East Policy Institute.
“I think the Biden administration wants to clearly demonstrate that it is a new day after the Trump administration … also just to send a message to the Saudis that the relationship will be recalibrated,” continued Ross.
Although the relationship is strained, there are still areas where the United States wants and needs to cooperate with the Saudis, including regional counterterrorism, Ross noted. “It is difficult to imagine any problem in the region where Saudi partnership and support does not play a significant role, but having said that, there must be clear limits so that we can moderate Saudi behavior that crosses the line,” said Ross.
The government may also be considering some form of punishment for the Saudis after the report is released.
When asked if the government would consider sanctions against those responsible for Khashoggi’s murder, State Department spokesman Ned Price said on Thursday: “I hope that we will soon be in a position to talk about measures to promote accountability for this horrible crime. “
Price added that Secretary of State Antony Blinken will have “full faith and confidence” in the report’s conclusions.
The release of the intelligence community report on Khashoggi’s death is mandatory in the National Defense Authorization Act. This law requires the director of national intelligence to provide the relevant parliamentary committees with an unclassified report that includes a “determination and presentation of evidence with respect to the prior knowledge and role of any current or former Saudi Arabian Government official or any current or former Saudi political figure on the direction, ordination or tampering of evidence in the murder. ”
No surprises expected
The basic conclusion of the report should come as no surprise.
Shortly after Khashoggi’s assassination in October 2018 at the Saudi consulate in Istanbul, the CIA assessed with great confidence that Bin Salman had personally ordered the murder. In June 2019, a United Nations investigator discovered that it was “inconceivable” that the royal heir had not known about the operation.
Then President Donald Trump, however, refused to condemn the Saudi prince, even after it became clear that Saudi Arabia’s initial allegations that Khashoggi’s assassination was a dishonest operation were unfounded. Instead, Trump dismissed the intelligence that the prince had participated in the killing, saying “maybe he did, maybe not”, and emphasizing that billions of dollars in U.S. arms sales to Saudi Arabia were not worth sacrificing for care.
Biden went on to say that “it would make it clear that we were not, in fact, going to sell more weapons to them, we were, in fact, to make them pay the price and to make them, in fact, the outcasts they are. There is very little value of social redemption of the – in the current government of Saudi Arabia. “
Biden then drew a parallel between Khashoggi’s murder and the terrible number of humanitarian victims in the Saudi-led war in Yemen, saying that “he would end the sale of material to the Saudis, where they are going and killing children, and they are murdering innocent people. And then they have to be held responsible. “
White House spokeswoman Jen Psaki said last week that the president is working to “recalibrate” the United States’ relationship with Saudi Arabia and will communicate with Saudi King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al-Saud instead of the Crown Prince .
“The context here is the Trump administration’s approach to Saudi Arabia, which was so ‘I don’t see evil’ that a recalibration was inevitable,” said Robert Satloff, executive director of the Middle East Policy Institute in Washington.
“This does not mean that the Crown Prince will be in diplomatic purgatory for this government,” said Satloff. “Rather, it means that there will be an initial expectation of measures that need to be taken a) to define the boundaries more clearly and b) to define what constitutes ‘responsibility’ for the assassination of Khashoggi that President Biden asked for on his birthday.”
Khashoggi’s assassination was “obviously an extreme example”, but only one of several events that caused real concern, Satloff said, prompting the government “to establish the indication that, for us, having the kind of relationship we would like to have, partnership, substantial structural changes are needed. “
Lawmakers are also working to ensure that there is a structural change in the relationship.
“It is good news that the White House is releasing this information about Khashoggi that my colleagues and I have requested since his brutal murder,” California Democratic Rep Ro Khanna told CNN.
Khanna, co-leader of a letter from lawmakers to the government on Yemen, said there was “broad support in Congress for the Biden government to deliver on its campaign pledges to end military support to the Saudis and [United Arab Emirates], which is imperative for the US to support the end of hunger in Yemen and the beginning of a political solution. “
The letter comes at a time when two Democratic members of Congress – Congressmen David Trone, from Maryland and Gerry Connolly, from Virginia – are due to present their resolution to hold Saudi Arabia responsible for Khashoggi’s death and other human rights violations.
The resolution will call for “a significant reduction in US aid to Saudi Arabia until the kingdom demonstrates real responsibility for human rights, the rule of law and nuclear issues,” Trone said in a letter to colleagues obtained by CNN on Thursday.
He also “aims to restrict nuclear cooperation until Saudi Arabia signs an Agreement 123 for a civilian program that expressly prohibits uranium enrichment in Saudi territory,” Trone said in the letter.
The resolution must be presented after Biden speaks to King Salman and after the release of the intelligence report.
Nic Robertson of CNN in London, and Alex Marquardt, Jennifer Hansler, Betsy Klein and Kylie Atwood in Washington contributed to this report.