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NEW YORK (Dagbladet): US intelligence released a report on Friday linking Saudi Arabia’s powerful crown prince, often called MBS, to the horrific murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi in October 2018.
Khashoggi worked for the Washington Post and lived in the United States. The assassination, which took place inside the Saudi consulate in Istanbul, has caused a huge international uproar, The Guardian reports.
Now pressure is mounting on President Joe Biden for the United States to react strongly to the Crown Prince, writes AP.
Pressure rise
Information that bin Salman is said to have approved of the assassination has been known to many by the US government apparatus for a long time, but was not made public until Friday. And despite demands for heavy sanctions against the Crown Prince and Saudi Arabia, it currently appears that the Biden administration will attempt to maintain a relationship with the powerful country.
Arouse international attention
– What we have done with our actions is not destroy the relationship, but recalibrate it according to our interests and values. I think we need to understand that this is bigger than a person, says Biden’s Foreign Minister Antony Blinken at a press conference.
The four-page US intelligence report does not say that the Crown Prince actually ordered the assassination. But he also says that bin Salman has “absolute control” over the kingdom’s intelligence apparatus, and that it is highly unlikely that an operation like the Khashoggi’s assassination would have taken place without his approval.
Deny
“The kingdom categorically rejects the offensive and erroneous assessment in the report on the kingdom’s leadership,” said a statement from the Saudi Arabian Foreign Ministry, according to AP.
Shortly after the report was released, the US authorities announced a new visa policy, dubbed the “Khashoggi ban.” It allows the denial of visas to people who harm, threaten or spy on journalists in the United States on behalf of foreign authorities. The United States will also impose visa restrictions on 76 Saudis who have threatened dissidents abroad.
However, several within the Democratic Party believe that Biden should do more and punish the Crown Prince outright.
Charged with another assassination attempt
– The crown prince’s hands are stained with blood. The president should not meet or speak with the crown prince. And the administration should consider sanctions against assets in the Saudi Arabian Public Investment Fund, which it controls and which has links to crime. says the Democratic representative in Congress and head of the intelligence committee, Adam Schiff, in a statement.
Assassinated in the consulate
The intelligence report describes the murder. Much of the information has been made public. Fifteen people from Saudi intelligence are named in the report. They are said to have come to Istanbul to participate in the operation.
Khashoggi went to the consulate to find the documents he needed to get married. But inside, he was brutally murdered by more than a dozen Saudi intelligence agents, according to the report.
Surveillance photos have revealed both Khashoggi’s itinerary and the alleged perpetrators in the hours leading up to the murder. A secret microphone that the Turkish authorities had placed inside the consulate is also said to have captured the sound of parts of the incident. The body has not yet been found.
Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman (35) has quickly gained a lot of power in the kingdom after his father became king in 2015. In 2019, he said he took “full responsibility” for the murder since it happened under his command. But he denies ordering it.
