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Intelligence officials quietly removed the names of three men ‘wrongly’ included in the report detailing the death of journalist Jamal Khashoggi, (pictured) revealed on Sunday.
Intelligence officials quietly removed the names of three men “wrongly” included in the report detailing the death of journalist Jamal Khashoggi, it was revealed on Sunday.
The first link sent by the Office of the Director of National Intelligence was cut and has been replaced by a new ‘v2’ version that removes the names of three men who, according to the first version of the report, were involved, CNN reported.
Last week, the declassified report made headlines after discovering that Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, known as MBS, approved the order to ‘catch or kill’ Khashoggi, a columnist for the Washington Post.
“We put a revised document on the website because the original mistakenly contained three names that should not have been included,” an ODNI spokesperson told CNN.
Abdulla Mohammed Alhoeriny, Yasir Khalid Alsalem and Ibrahim al-Salim were initially listed as persons who “participated, ordered or were complicit in or responsible for the death of Jamal Khashoggi”.
Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, pictured, allegedly approved of Khashoggi’s assassination
The first link sent by the Office of the Director of National Intelligence was cut and has been replaced by a new ‘v2’
In the first version of the report, Abdulla Mohammed Alhoeriny, Yasir Khalid Alsalem and Ibrahim al-Salim are named
In the second version of the report, Abdulla Mohammed Alhoeriny, Yasir Khalid Alsalem and Ibrahim al-Salim are not named
ODNI declined to clarify why their names were originally included in the report, CNN reported. An official with the House Intelligence Committee told the outlet that lawmakers had asked the intelligence agency for clarification.
Abdulla Mohammed Alhoeriny, the brother of General Abdulaziz bin Mohammed al-Howraini, had not previously been linked to Khashoggi’s death, according to the outlet.
Al-Howraini heads the powerful agency of the Presidency of State Security, which was created in 2017 to oversee multiple intelligence and counterterrorism agencies.
Alhoeriny is reportedly the deputy head of state security for the fight against terrorism, CNN reported.
It was not immediately clear who Yasir Khalid Alsalem and Ibrahim al-Salim are and what their ties to the Saudi government may be.
None of the three men were sanctioned with 18 others whose names were listed in the revised intelligence report, CNN reported.
The Saudi government had immediately responded to the report on Friday, criticizing its “negative, false and unacceptable assessment” and noting that it “contained inaccurate information and conclusions.”
Former CIA Director John Brennan said Friday that President Joe Biden should not “turn a blind eye” to the Crown Prince’s actions after the report was made public.
Brennan, who served as head of the CIA from March 2013 to January 2017, called on Biden to prevent bin Salman from entering the United States while maintaining a ‘long-standing strategic partnership’ with Saudi Arabia.
“The United States and Saudi Arabia have had a long-standing strategic partnership that I think is very important to both countries,” Brennan said in an interview with MSNBC’s Joshua Johnson.
“It covers the whole gamut from energy to security, counter-terrorism and the economy. So I think it’s important that we maintain the strength of that relationship. ‘
However, Brennan said the Biden administration should not “turn a blind eye to the things that Saudi leaders, including Mohammed bin Salman, do.”
Brennan said that Biden has to send a “clear signal” to bin Salman that “this kind of activity, oppressing, repressing and ruthlessly killing any Saudi activist who dares to speak out against him is something that should not be tolerated.”
“I think we can distinguish between the strategic partnership between the two countries and the actions of one man,” Brennan said.
He continued: ‘This is why I really hope the Biden administration will hold him accountable, saying that he will not be coming to the United States for any official or personal visit.’
Brennan added that officials in the Biden administration should not hold high-level meetings with bin Salman.
“That has to be very clear, not only to Mohammed bin Salman and the rest of the Saudi government, but also to other governments in the region,” Brennan said.
“They can’t get away with it because the Biden administration will hold them to certain standards in terms of human rights and values.”
The Biden administration has faced some criticism that the president should have been tougher on the crown prince, who was not sanctioned for the 2018 assassination.
Biden said on Saturday that his administration would make an announcement on Saudi Arabia on Monday.
On Saturday, Saudi Arabia said it intercepted a missile attack on its capital, as well as bomb-laden drones against a southern province.
The attack marks the latest in a series of airstrikes that he attributed to Houthi rebels allied with Iran in Yemen’s civil war.
Dramatic videos posted by state-run Al-Ekhbariya on Twitter that appear to show the ballistic missile being intercepted and detonated in the air over Riyadh.
