WASHINGTON (AP) – The Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia has likely approved the murder of US journalist Jamal Khashoggi in the Saudi consulate in Istanbul, according to a recently released US intelligence report released Friday. The finding could increase pressure on the Biden administration to hold the kingdom responsible for a murder that sparked widespread outrage in the US and beyond.
The public accusation of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman amounted to an extraordinary rebuke and would likely set the tone for the new administration’s relationship with a country that President Joe Biden has criticized, but which in some contexts the White House also considered a strategic partner.
The conclusion that the prince approved an operation to kill or imprison Khashoggi, a critic of his authoritarian power-building, was based on what intelligence officials know about his role in decision-making within the kingdom and the involvement of one of his key figures. advisers, Saud al-Qahtani, and members of his protective branch, according to the report from the office of the director of the national intelligence agency. Officials also took into account the prince’s previous support for using violent measures to silence dissidents abroad, the report said.
While Democrats in Congress called for aggressive action, the State Department responded by announcing visa restrictions on 76 Saudi individuals involved in threatening dissidents abroad.
“To ensure security for everyone within our borders, perpetrators targeting alleged dissidents on behalf of a foreign government should not be allowed to enter US territory,” said Secretary of State Antony Blinken.
The declassified document was released a day after a later-than-normal courtesy call from Biden to Saudi King Salman, although a summary of the White House conversation made no mention of the murder and instead said the men were the countries’ longstanding partnership. had discussed. . The kingdom’s state-run Saudi news agency also made no mention of Khashoggi’s murder in its report on the call, but rather focused on regional issues such as Iran and the ongoing war in Yemen.
The milder tone of the call was contrary to Biden’s promise as a candidate to make Saudi Arabia “a pariah” over the murder.
Once in office, Biden has said he would maintain any extent of relations with Saudi Arabia that US interests required. He also ordered an end to US support for the Saudi Arabia-led bombing campaign in Yemen and said he would stop the sale of assault weapons to Saudi Arabia. He has given little detail about what weapons and support he was referring to.
White House press secretary Jen Psaki told reporters Friday that the government has been clear that it will “review our relationship with Saudi Arabia.”
Democrats, meanwhile, were pushing for strong action.
Rep. Adam Schiff, chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, urged Biden’s government to ensure that the report “has serious implications for all the responsible parties it has identified, as well as to reassess our relationship with Saudi Arabia. . ” And Senator Ron Wyden, a member of the Oregon Democrat and Intelligence Committee, called for consequences for the prince – such as sanctions – and for the Saudi kingdom as a whole.
Khashoggi had gone to the Saudi consulate to retrieve the documents needed for his marriage. Once inside, he died by more than a dozen Saudi security and intelligence officers and others who had gathered before his arrival. Security cameras had tracked his route and that of his alleged killers in Istanbul in the hours leading up to his murder.
A Turkish bug planted near the consulate reportedly captured the sound of a forensic saw operated by a Saudi colonel who was also a forensic expert, who chopped up Khashoggi’s body within an hour of entering the building . The whereabouts of his remains remain unknown.
The prince said in 2019 that he took “full responsibility” for the murder since it happened during his watch, but denied ordering it. Saudi officials have said Khashoggi’s murder was the work of rogue Saudi security and intelligence officials. Last year, Saudi courts announced they had sentenced eight Saudi nationals to prison for the murder of Khashoggi. They had not been identified.
The Associated Press writers, Ellen Knickmeyer in Oklahoma City and Aamer Madhani in Chicago, contributed to this report.