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Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman approved the 2018 assassination of Washington Post journalist Jamal Khashoggi, according to a declassified assessment of the assassination provided to Congress by US intelligence agencies.
The report confirmed the suspicion that the 35-year-old future king personally participated in the violent and premeditated murder of one of his most prominent critics, a columnist and former Saudi informant living in exile in the US and used his platform to denounce the prince’s repression against dissent.
The release of Thursday’s assessment was expected to be accompanied by new actions by the Biden administration, which are expected to be revealed by the State Department on Thursday morning.
The assessment, which was released by the Office of the Director of National Intelligence and relied heavily on information gathered by the CIA, said the agencies assessed that “Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman approved an operation in Istanbul, Turkey to capture or kill Saudi Arabia. ” journalist Jamal Khashoggi ”.
He based the assessment on the prince’s “control of decision-making in the kingdom, the direct involvement of a key adviser, and [the prince’s] protective detail in operation, and [his] support for the use of violent measures to silence dissidents abroad, including Khashoggi ”.
While Prince Mohammed has previously denied ordering or knowledge of the assassination, the damning image presented in the new report raises serious new questions about his future as the Saudi heir.
‘Sacrificial lamb’
The revelation comes more than two years after Khashoggi entered the Saudi consulate in Istanbul on a mission to retrieve documents that would allow him to marry his Turkish fiancée, Hadice Cengiz, who has since emerged as a fierce advocate of justice for his late couple.
While Saudi officials had assured Khashoggi that he would be safe within the walls of the consulate, grisly details later emerged, gathered through recordings and other evidence collected by Turkish authorities, describing how a team of Saudi agents, that the state-owned aircraft had arrived in Istanbul with the purpose of killing the journalist: they subdued, killed and then dismembered Khashoggi with a bone saw. In one recording, a close ally of Prince Mohammed referred to the journalist as a “slaughtered lamb.”
The decision to publish the report and the expected move to issue more shares represents the first major foreign policy decision of the Joe Biden presidency, months after he promised in the presidential campaign to turn the kingdom into an “outcast.” The White House has said it is seeking to “recalibrate” its relationship with the oil-rich nation, in a major departure from the close relationship the crown prince, known as MBS, had with Biden’s predecessor Donald Trump and adviser. of Trump. and son-in-law, Jared Kushner.
The former president defended and dismissed the findings of his own intelligence agencies, even after it became widely known through media reports that the CIA had concluded with a medium to high degree of confidence that Prince Mohammed he had approved of the murder. Trump was reported to boast to Washington Post reporter Bob Woodward that he had protected the crown prince from congressional scrutiny and told Woodward, “I saved his ass.”
The declassified US intelligence assessment was released after it was ordered by Congress. The Trump administration had ignored the law, but the Biden administration signaled early on that it would be willing to publish the document.
Its publication follows years of lobbying by Cengiz and other human rights defenders who have said that Saudi Arabia was never held responsible for the murder.
Tarnished reputation
Saudi officials initially denied that Khashoggi had been harmed at the consulate and had tried to create the impression using a body double in Khashoggi’s clothing that the 59-year-old had left the building. Eventually, kingdom officials acknowledged that Khashoggi had been killed, but blamed the murder on a “rogue operation”.
The release of the US report could have significant repercussions for the crown prince, although most analysts agreed that it was not immediately clear who could replace him after a years-long campaign by the future king to target and imprison his most likely political rivals, including former Crown Prince Mohammed bin Nayef.
While the assassination initially tarnished the crown prince’s reputation, Trump’s unconditional support for the Saudi heir, including in the wake of the assassination, and media reports that American intelligence officials believed “MBS” had something to do with it. Seeing with the assassination, he eventually helped rehabilitate his image, including with business leaders, politicians, and heads of state across Europe.
Saudi prosecutors tried 11 unidentified officials in what was seen largely as a sham proceeding, then reduced the death sentences of five of the men convicted of killing the dissident to 20 years in prison.
Among the officials said to have been “exonerated” in the trial was Saud Al-Qatani, a senior adviser to the crown prince who, along with 16 other Saudi officials, was later sanctioned by the US Treasury for his role in the murder. . – Guardian
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