Saudi Crown Prince says he does not care if Biden misunderstands him

Agencies | Riyadh

The Daily Tribune – www.newsofbahrain.com

Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman said he does not care whether US President Joe Biden misunderstood things about him, saying Biden should be focusing on America’s interests, in an interview with The Atlantic monthly published yesterday.

Prince Mohammed suggested in separate but related remarks carried by the Saudi state news agency SPA that Riyadh could choose to reduce investments in the United States, “Simply, I do not care,” the crown prince said when asked by The Atlantic whether Biden misunderstood things about him. He said it was up to Biden “to think about the interests of America”. “We don’t have the right to lecture you in America,” he added.

“The same goes the other way.” The crown prince told The Atlantic that he felt his own rights had been violated by the accusations against him in the brutal murder and dismemberment of Khashoggi, who was killed inside the kingdom’s Istanbul consulate. “I feel that human rights law wasn’t applied to me...Article XI of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights states that any person is innocent until proven guilty,” he said. Asked whether Saudi rule could transform into a constitutional monarchy, MbS said no.

“Saudi Arabia is based on pure monarchy,” he said. Prince Mohammed also told The Atlantic that Riyadh’s objective was to maintain and strengthen its “long, historical” relationship with America. He said Saudi investments in the United States amounted to $800 billion. “In the same way we have the possibility of boosting our interests, we have the possibility of reducing them,” SPA quoted him as saying.