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| Kerry's Meet With Saudi Foreign Minister Abruptly Closed to Press |
| 2013-04-17 |
| Secretary of State John Kerry's meeting with the Saudi Foreign Minister was abruptly closed to the media Tuesday. Sec. Kerry's previous rounds of meetings with foreign ministers had been open to the press. And the meeting with the Saudi Foreign Minister should have been far less controversial than his meetings with foreign ministers in Asia where the North Korean crisis was still underway. The meeting with the Saudi Foreign Minister should have been open to the press as well. But then suddenly, it wasn't. Politico reports: A meeting Secretary of State John Kerry was to hold with Saudi Arabian Foreign Minister Saud Al-Faisal was abruptly closed to press coverage Tuesday morning. The State Department provided no reason for the change, which was announced just 15 minutes before the scheduled 10am session, but media reports have said that a Saudi national in the US on a student visa is a "person of interest" to investigators probing the bombings at the Boston Marathon on Monday. "Apologies for short notice," the State Department's press office told reporters as it announced the change. A spokesperson did not immediately respond to a query about the closure of the meeting, which had been scheduled to include a so-called "camera spray" at the top of the session. Later Tuesday, at the daily briefing for reporters, State Department spokesman Patrick Ventrell said the exclusion of the press from the meeting was due to Kerry's busy schedule. "This was just a scheduling change on our part," Ventrell said. That met with a skeptical reaction from journalists, who had been advised that the meeting would include a so-called "camera spray" at the top of the session. "Are you really trying to say that this [meeting was moved from a] camera/photo op to being closed, for scheduling reasons? Is that seriously your answer: that because the secretary was tired after 10 days on the road and is going to the Hill tomorrow?" the Associated Press's Matt Lee asked..."So does it save time somehow, canceling the photo op? It doesn't wash," Lee replied. The Saudis tend to be aggressive in protecting their nationals, even when they are involved in terrorism. And Kerry clearly is trying to avoid any kind of public exchange or questions at the topic. |
| Posted by:tipper |