Jamal Khashoggi’s US lawyer sentenced to three years following detention in UAE

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.

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 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:

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:

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.

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.

MBS has said that Saudi Arabia cannot increase its oil production significantly, after President Joe Biden met with the crown prince in efforts to tackle sky-high gas prices back in the US.

Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman said at the Gulf Cooperation Council on Saturday that his oil-rich nation was almost at its limit of petroleum production and cannot produce more than 13 million barrels a day.

According to the US Energy Information Administration, Saudi Arabia is currently producing around 10.2 million barrels of crude oil a day.

His comments come after Mr Biden told reporters that MBS had agreed to bolster its oil production – a move that will ease gas prices for Americans – during their controversial meeting on Friday.

Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman said that “unrealistic” emission policies will lead to “unprecedented” inflation, with more investment is needed in fossil fuel and clean energy technologies.

Speaking at the Gulf Cooperation Council on Saturday, MBS spoke about the global demand for oil as gas prices continue to soar.

“Adopting unrealistic policies to reduce emissions by excluding main sources of energy will lead in coming years to unprecedented inflation and an increase in energy prices, and rising unemployment and a worsening of serious social and security problems,” he said.

The “geopolitical situation” and the pandemic means that the transition to sustainable energy sources requires a “realistic and responsible” approach, he added.

His comments come after Mr Biden told reporters that MBS had agreed to bolster oil production in Saudi Arabia – a move that will ease gas prices for Americans – during their controversial meeting on Friday.

Iran has imposed a fresh round of sanctions on 61 Americans including former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, former Trump attorney Rudy Giuliani and ex-White House national security adviser John Bolton.

Iran’s Foreign Ministry announced on Saturday that it had imposed sanctions on the group of Americans who had voiced support for Iranian dissident group Mujahideen-e-Khalq (MEK).

The nation has introduced sanctions on more than 70 other Americans so far this year, as hopes of reviving the 2015 nuclear deal continue to stall.

President Joe Biden is seeking to reenter the nuclear deal which was reached under the Obama administration before being dismantled by the Trump administration.

The new raft of sanctions were handed down the same day that President Joe Biden spoke to a group of leaders in the Middle East, saying that Iran never get nuclear weapons.

Saudi Arabia Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman fired back at Joe Biden with America’s own controversies when the US president confronted him over the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi, it has been revealed.

A source familiar with Friday’s controversial meeting between the two leaders told CNN that the crown prince, known as MBS, responded by bringing up the death of Palestinian-American journalist Shireen Abu Akleh and incidents where US soldiers abused prisoners at Iraq’s Abu Ghraib detention centre.

The source said that MBS told Mr Biden that the two incidents reflected badly on the US.

The Independent’s Rachel Sharp has the full story: