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WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The de facto ruler of Saudi Arabia approved an operation to capture or kill murdered journalist Jamal Khashoggi in 2018, according to US intelligence released on Friday when the United States sanctioned some of those involved but pardoned himself. crown prince in an effort to preserve relations with the kingdom.
Khashoggi, a US resident who wrote opinion columns for the Washington Post criticizing the policies of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, was assassinated and dismembered by a team of agents linked to the prince at the kingdom’s consulate in Istanbul.
The Saudi government, which has denied any involvement of the crown prince, issued a statement rejecting the findings of the US report and repeating its earlier statements that the Khashoggi’s murder was a heinous crime committed by a rogue group.
The president of the United States, Joe Biden, seemed to be trying to make it clear that the murders of political opponents were not acceptable to the United States and at the same time preserved ties with the crown prince, who may rule one of the main the world’s oil exporters for decades and be a major ally against the commons. enemy of Iran.
Among the punitive measures the United States took on Friday, it imposed a visa ban on some Saudis believed to be involved in Khashoggi’s assassination and sanctioned others, including a former deputy intelligence chief, that would freeze his American assets and generally ban Saudis. Americans negotiate with them.
US officials also said they were considering canceling arms sales to Saudi Arabia that raise human rights concerns and limiting future sales to “defensive” weapons as it reassesses its relationship with the kingdom and its role in the Yemen war.
“We assess that the Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia, Muhammad bin Salman, has approved an operation in Istanbul, Turkey to capture or kill Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi,” the Office of the Director of National Intelligence of the United States said in the report.
To view the full document, click here https://www.odni.gov/files/ODNI/documents/assessments/Assessment-Saudi-Gov-Role-in-JK-Death-20210226.pdf.
The intelligence agency based its assessment on the crown prince’s control over decision-making, the direct involvement of one of his key advisers and his own protective team, and his “support for the use of violent measures to silence dissidents in the foreigner, including Khashoggi, “he added. .
“Since 2017, the Crown Prince has had full control of the Kingdom’s security and intelligence organizations, so it is highly unlikely that Saudi officials would have carried out an operation of this nature without (his) authorization,” he says The report.
By declassifying the report, Biden reversed his predecessor Donald Trump’s refusal to publish it in defiance of a 2019 law, reflecting a new willingness by the United States to challenge the kingdom on human rights issues to Yemen.
However, Biden is treading a fine line to preserve ties with the kingdom as he seeks to revive the 2015 nuclear deal with regional rival Iran and address other challenges, including fighting Islamist extremism and advancing Arab-Israeli ties. .
‘KHASHOGGI BAN’
In announcing the decision to ban 76 Saudis under a new policy called “Ban Khashoggi,” the State Department said it would not tolerate those who threaten or attack activists, dissidents and journalists on behalf of foreign governments.
The Treasury Department imposed sanctions on Ahmed Hassan Mohammed al-Asiri, former deputy chief of the Saudi General Intelligence Presidency and the Saudi Rapid Intervention Force (RIF) in connection with Khashoggi’s assassination.
The Treasury accused Asiri of being the ringleader of the Khashoggi operation and said that several members of the strike squad sent to intercept the journalist were part of the RIF, a subset of the Saudi Royal Guard that only answers to the crown prince.
The US intelligence report ruled that the members of the force would not have participated in the operation without the approval of the crown prince.
In previewing the announcements, US officials had said the sanctions and visa bans would not affect the crown prince.
“The goal is a recalibration (in ties), not a break,” said a senior Biden administration official on condition of anonymity, saying the approach aims to create a new starting point for ties with the kingdom. without breaking a core relationship.
Chas Freeman, a former US ambassador to Riyadh, said that despite the damning report, the Biden administration will have to deftly deal with the crown prince because “there is no getting around it” as the kingdom’s “chief executive.”
“In a political context, obviously, Mohammed bin Salman is completely vilified and is quite radioactive in American politics,” he said. “But you have to wonder what the consequences are of not dealing with the effective manager of the kingdom.”
Since taking office in 2017, the crown prince, known to some in the West as MbS, “has had absolute control of the Kingdom’s security and intelligence organizations,” the report said, making it “highly unlikely. “That the operation against Khashoggi is carried out. they have taken place without your authorization.
Khashoggi, 59, was a Saudi journalist living in self-imposed exile in Virginia and wrote op-ed pieces for the Washington Post that criticized the policies of the crown prince, known to some in the West as MbS.
On October 2, 2018, he was lured to the Saudi consulate in Istanbul with the promise of a document he needed to marry his Turkish fiancée. There, agents linked to MbS killed him and dismembered his body. His remains have not been found.
Riyadh initially issued conflicting stories about his disappearance, but eventually admitted that Khashoggi was killed in what he called a “rogue” extradition operation that went awry.
In the killing, 21 men were arrested and five senior officials, including Asiri and Saud al-Qahtani, an assistant to MbS, were fired.
The report noted that some of those involved were from the Saudi Center for Media Studies and Affairs, which was later led by Qahtani, “who stated publicly in mid-2018 that he was not making decisions without the approval of the Crown Prince.”
In January 2019, 11 people were tried behind closed doors. Five were sentenced to death, which were commuted to 20 years in prison after they were pardoned by the Khashoggi family, while three others were sentenced to prison.
Asiri was acquitted “for lack of evidence,” the prosecution said, while Qahtani was investigated but not charged.
(Additional reporting by Doina Chiacu, Steve Holland, Mark Hosenball, Daphne Psaledakis, and Patricia Zengerle; written by Arshad Mohammed; edited by Alistair Bell)
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