The original content of Democracy Now! Headlines appears under the Creative
Commons BY-NC-ND 3.0 License (United States). For more, including their other
shows and media, visit www.democracynow.org.
January 28, 2015

Obama Defends Decision Not to Focus on Saudi Arabia's Human Rights Record 
--------------------------------------------------------------------------


 
President Obama has wrapped up a short visit to Saudi Arabia to meet the
new King Salman and pay his respects following the death of King
Abdullah. In an interview on CNN, Obama defended the United States'
close partnership with Saudi Arabia despite the the kingdom's poor human
rights record.

President Obama: "Sometimes we have to balance our need to speak to them
about human rights issues with immediate concerns that we have in terms
of countering terrorism or dealing with regional stability."

 

.