US President Joe Biden’s
planned visits to
Saudi Arabia and Israel later this month have been postponed
until July, several officials told NBC News on Friday.
اضافة اعلان
The
White House is now planning a broader
trip to the Middle East next month, sources said.
The reason for the delay was not immediately
clear. However, a US official said there were scheduling issues and that the
Biden administration needed more time to plan the trip that will include stops
in several countries. Dates for July have not been finalized as the White House
is still waiting to hear back from the various host countries, the official
said.
The White House declined to comment on the
travel itinerary, and the Israeli and Saudi embassies in Washington did not
immediately respond to inquiries late Friday.
Biden’s plans to visit Saudi Arabia came
under swift scrutiny given the country’s human rights record and the
president’s own past comments about the country. On the campaign trail, Biden
promised to treat the country as a “pariah” following the killing of journalist
Jamal Khashoggi in the Saudi Consulate in Istanbul.
A group of relatives to victims of the
September 11 terrorist attacks wrote to Biden this week saying that if he
travels to the kingdom, he must raise issues of “accountability” over alleged
ties between some of the hijackers and Saudi officials.
Yet Saudi Arabia, a close
US economic and
military ally, has traditionally been one of the first foreign stops a
president makes in the Middle East. The Biden administration has found it
difficult to avoid cooperating with Saudi Arabia given its major role in many
of the top foreign policy issues confronting the Biden administration,
including Israel-Palestinian tensions and the Iran nuclear deal.
Biden, asked by a reporter on Friday morning
about reports of a trip to Saudi Arabia, said a stop was possible but that he was
“not sure whether I’m going”.
“I have been engaged in trying to work with how we can
bring more stability and peace to the
Middle East. And there is a possibility
that I would be going to meet with both the Israelis and some Arab countries at
the time, including, I expect, would be Saudi Arabia… if I did go,” Biden said.
“But I have no direct plans at the moment. We’re looking at it.”
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