The Biden administration on Friday released a declassified report by U.S. intelligence that concludes Saudi Arabia’s crown prince Muhammad bin Salman ‘approved’ the operation that killed Jamal Khashoggi.
The assessment, which is dated February 11 and says it was declassified Thursday, cites the ‘control’ MBS holds over the security apparatus in the kingdom, where he is considered the most powerful figure.
According to the report by the Director of National Intelligence: ‘We assess that Saudi Arabia’s crown prince Muhammad bin Salman approved an operation in Istanbul, Turkey to capture or kill Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi.’
A declassified intelligence report from the Biden administration names Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman as the man who approved the 2018 killing of Jamal Khashoggi.
‘We base this assessment on the Crown Prince’s control of decision making in the Kingdom, the direct involvement of a key adviser and members of Muhammad bin Slaman’s protective detail in the operation, and the Crown Prince’s support for using violent measures to silence dissidents abroad, including Khashoggi,’ it reads.
It points to the crown prince’s ‘absolute control of the Kindom’s security and intelligence organizations,’ in a kingdom where his authority is already well established.
The release of the report does not provide any information on looming political decisions – including whether to impose U.S. sanctions on a critical powerbroker of a strategic ally.
This video grab made on October 10, 2018 from CCTV footage obtained from Turkish news agency DHA shows Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi (R) arriving at the Saudi Arabian consulate in Istanbul on October 2, 2018 – Khashoggi, a Washington Post contributor, vanished on October 2 after entering the consulate to obtain official documents ahead of his marriage to his Turkish fiancee.
President Donald Trump, flanked by White House senior advisor Jared Kushner, meets with Saudi Arabia’s Deputy Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman at the Ritz Carlton Hotel in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia May 20, 2017
It says the crown prince has ‘absolute control of the Kingdom’s security and intelligence organizations, making it highly unlikely that Saudi officials would have carried out an operation of this nature without the Crown Prince’s authorization.
It cites ‘the crown prince’s control of decision-making in the kingdom.’
It says the 15-member hit squad that traveled to Istanbul ‘included officials who worked for, or were associated with, the Saudi Center for Studies and Media Affairs (CSMARC) at the Royal Court. It says the group is led by Saud al-Qahtani, a ‘close advisor’ to MBS, who claimed publicly in mid 2018 that he did not make decisions without his approval.
It also included members of his elite personal detail – the Rapid Intervention Force. It exists ‘to defend the Crown Prince, answers only to him, and had directly participated in earlier dissident suppression operations in the Kingdom and abroad and the Crown Prince’s direction.
Its release adds another chapter to the horrific killing of Khashoggi in 2018, and poses a challenge to U.S. relations with a strategic ally, major arms purchaser, and oil power.
President Joe Biden this week spoke with Saudi Arabia’s King Fahd, who the White House noted was his counterpart. The Trump administration had extensive contacts with MBS.
White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki, who is traveling with Biden, declined to say whether Biden brought up the killing, which was not mentioned in an official readout.
‘I don’t have more to read out from the call’ she said. She said that ‘broadly’ the president and officials ‘at every level’ have raised human rights concerns.
The crown prince has denied involvement in the October 2018 murder of Khashoggi, a Saudi dissident who wrote columns critical of MBS, as the crown prince as known. MBS did accept responsibility for the assassination as the de facto ruler of Saudi Arabia. And Riyadh eventually admitted that Khashoggi was killed in an ‘rogue’ extradition operation gone wrong.
Five men were given the death penalty for the journalist’s murder but had their sentences commuted to 20 years in prison after being forgiven by Khashoggi’s family.
Khashoggi fled Saudi Arabia in September 2017 to live in self-imposed exile. He was writing columns critical of the Saudi government – including of both King Salman and MBS – for The Washington Post when he was killed.
In October 2018, Khashoggi visited the Saudi Consulate in Istanbul, to pick up the paperwork required for his marriage to a Turkish citizen. He was never seen leaving.
Mail Online
