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Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman is said to have approved the murder of his compatriot in October 2018, according to a US intelligence report. Saudi Arabia rejects this as incorrect.
Journalist Jamal Khashogg was assassinated in October 2018. According to the US secret services, the Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia is said to have ordered this.
Photo: Hasan Jamali (Keystone / Archiv)
Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman approved the operation to capture or kill journalist Jamal Khashoggi in October 2018, according to US intelligence agencies. This emerges from a report that the office of the new US intelligence coordinator, Avril Haines, published in Washington on Friday.
Khashoggi was assassinated on October 2, 2018 at the Saudi consulate in Istanbul by a special command from Riyadh. There is still no trace of his body. Khashoggi lived in the US state of Virginia and wrote columns for the Washington Post, which often contained criticism of the Saudi monarchy.
The report claims that the US secret services based their assessment, among other things, on the fact that the Crown Prince has had “absolute control over the kingdom’s security and intelligence organizations” since 2017. Therefore, it is ” very unlikely “that government officials would have carried out such an operation without the Crown Prince’s permission. The direct involvement of a top Bin Salman adviser in the operation and his support for violent measures to silence dissidents abroad also speak in favor of such approval.
Biden was on the phone with König
The new president of the United States, Joe Biden, called the Saudi King Salman for the first time on Thursday. Then the White House announced that Biden had told the King that he would work to “make bilateral relations as strong and transparent as possible.” The President of the United States had reaffirmed the importance that the United States attaches to human rights and the rule of law. The ad did not mention the murder of Khashoggi, the secret services assessment should have been part of the phone call.
The leadership of the Islamic-conservative kingdom was exposed to harsh criticism after Khashoggi’s disappearance. She only admitted the murder under international pressure. The traces led to the closest circle of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, who denied ordering the murder himself.
A UN human rights expert concluded in 2019 that there was credible evidence of possible personal responsibility of the heir to the throne and other high-ranking representatives of Saudi Arabia. A few weeks after the crime, the Washington Post reported that the US Secret Service had concluded with a high degree of certainty that the Crown Prince had ordered the assassination.
Trump continued to support Riyadh
Biden’s predecessor, Donald Trump, had made billions in arms deals with Riyadh. The Republican has been quite lax about the human rights situation in Saudi Arabia an important ally of the Crown Prince. Washington imposed sanctions on more than a dozen former Saudi government employees in connection with the journalist’s murder. Trump maintained his support for the royal family in Riyadh.
The government of Democrat Biden has made it clear that it will readjust relations with Saudi Arabia. White House spokeswoman Jen Psaki said Thursday: “Our administration is focused on recalibrating the relationship.” During the election campaign, Biden had already promised a tougher course against Saudi Arabia and an end to US arms sales to the kingdom.
Khashoggi’s critique of the royal family
According to US media reports, shortly after taking office last month, the new US administration suspended such sales pending a review. In a departure from Trump’s strategy, the Biden administration also announced that it no longer wants to support the Saudi-led alliance’s fight against the Iranian-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen.
Biden had already accused the crown prince during the election campaign of ordering the assassination of Khashoggis. Riyadh would “pay a price” for it and become an “outsider,” Biden said in November 2019. Foreign Ministry spokesman Ned Price condemned Khashoggi’s murder as a “horrible crime” several times in the past. last days.
Khashoggi had close ties to the Saudi royal family for a long time, but later fell out of favor. In 2017 he went to the United States. From exile, he was repeatedly critical of the Saudi leadership, especially in columns for the Washington Post.
A trial is underway for the murder of Khashoggi in Turkey. In autumn, a Saudi court sentenced five defendants to 20 years in prison, thus overturning the death sentence imposed on the five men late last year. Khashoggi’s family had previously stated that they would forgive the perpetrators.
Report rejected as “incorrect”
Riyadh rejected the report as “false” and “unacceptable”. Saudi Arabia’s Foreign Ministry announced on Twitter on Friday that it contained “incorrect information and conclusions” about the Saudi leadership.
The “terrible crime” is a flagrant violation of Saudi law, he said. Those who committed it were convicted. It is regrettable that the US report has been published. The kingdom rejects measures that threaten its sovereignty and the independence of its judiciary.
