The Saudi Foreign Ministry condemned on Monday the US Senate resolutions that blamed the Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman for the killing of the Washington Post’s journalist Jamal Khashoggi, and called for ending the US military support in the Yemen civil war.
In a statement, the ministry denounced the “blatant interferences in the Kingdom’s internal affairs,” saying that the resolutions are based on “unsubstantiated claims and allegations.”
“The Kingdom categorically rejects any interference in its internal affairs, and any accusations, in any manner, that disrespect its leadership, represented by the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques, and the Crown Prince, and any attempts to undermine its sovereignty or diminish its stature,” the statement read.
The ministry added that Saudi Arabia “has previously asserted that the murder of Saudi citizen Jamal Khashoggi is a deplorable crime that does not reflect the Kingdom’s policy nor its institutions’.”
It added that the Saudi government “reaffirms its rejection of any attempts to take the case out of the path of justice in the kingdom.”
The Saudi journalist was murdered inside his country’s embassy in Istanbul last October. At the beginning, Saudi Arabia denied the killing of Khashoggi, and gave various narratives, but eventually admitted that the murder was planned by a team of 15 Saudi officials, by orders of an intelligence officer.
Regarding the situation in Yemen, the ministry said that the kingdom “continues its efforts towards achieving a political solution, by the Yemeni parties based on the UN’s Security Council resolution 2216, the GCC initiative and its implementation mechanism, and the outcomes of the Comprehensive Yemeni National Dialogue.”
However, the ministry said that the Kingdom is keen on preserving its relations with the US, adding that it will continue to work towards improving these ties in all areas.
Last week, the US Congress issued a joint resolution to express its belief that bin Salman is “responsible for the murder of Khashoggi.” It also called on the US administration to end its military aid to the Saudi led coalition in the war-torn country, demanding for an immediate cease-fire.
Saudi Arabia, which supports the embattled Yemeni President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi, intervened in the Yemeni conflict in 2015 to prevent the fall of Hadi. Backed by the US, Saudi Arabia, and the UAE, the coalition launched hundreds of strikes in Yemen, killing thousands of Yemeni people including civilians.
