The silent change in the Office of the Director of National Intelligence went largely unnoticed as the clamor grew that the Biden government was not punishing the prince in any way, despite having just stated in no uncertain terms that the MBS was responsible .
The Office of the Director of National Intelligence declined to clarify why the names were originally on the list and what roles, if any, they may have played in Khashoggi’s murder.
“We posted a revised document on the website because the original mistakenly contained three names that should not have been included,” an ODNI spokesman told CNN.
A senior administration official argued on Friday afternoon, before the change was noticed, that the report contained no new information.
“It is [is] information that is known to the United States government and provided to selected committees and members of Congress for more than a year, “said the official.
However, three of the names that ODNI had listed first had not been mentioned previously in reports on Khashoggi’s death.
The White House has forwarded requests for comment to ODNI.
The first of the three names removed is Abdulla Mohammed Alhoeriny, who was not previously connected with Khashoggi’s death.
According to a person familiar with the inner workings of Saudi intelligence, he is the brother of General Abdulaziz bin Mohammed al-Howraini, a minister in charge of the powerful Presidency of State Security, which oversees several intelligence and counterterrorism agencies. Abdulla (as ODNI is spelled) appears in Saudi reports as deputy head of state security for counterterrorism.
The other two names that appeared in the unclassified intelligence report and then disappeared are Yasir Khalid Alsalem and Ibrahim al-Salim. It was not clear who they are.
The three men are not among the 18 who were sanctioned by the US for Khashoggi’s murder. These 18 were listed in the revised intelligence report, whose file name on the ODNI website includes “v2”, clearly indicating that it is the second version.
The initial intelligence report appears to have been online for several hours before ODNI removed it, according to the Wayback Machine’s Internet file. The discrepancy between the two lists of names was noted on Capitol Hill and a clarification was requested from ODNI, said an official on the Chamber’s Intelligence Committee. A spokesman for the Senate Intelligence Committee declined to comment.
The report, which was disqualified by Director of National Intelligence Avril Haines, assessed that the Crown Prince, known as MBS, approved the operation in Istanbul to “capture or kill” Khashoggi.
The report concludes with a list of names – first 21, then 18 when it was revised – whose US intelligence has “high confidence” was involved in the terrible murder, but does not assess whether they knew the operation would lead to his death.
Seventeen Saudis had already been sanctioned for the murder by the United States Department of the Treasury. An eighteenth, a former senior intelligence officer, was added on Friday. The force that serves as a protective detail for the MBS, known as “Tigre Squadron”, was also sanctioned.
The State Department also announced that 76 unidentified Saudis would be prevented from entering the United States under the “Khashoggi ban”.
The Saudi government responded immediately to Friday’s report and criticized its conclusions.
“The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia completely rejects the negative, false and unacceptable assessment of the report on Kingdom leadership and notes that the report contained inaccurate information and conclusions,” says a statement.
Biden said over the weekend that more announcements about Saudi Arabia would come on Monday. The White House clarified its comments, saying the State Department would provide more details about the announcements already made.
“The recalibration of relations with Saudi Arabia began on January 20 and is ongoing. The government took a wide range of new actions on Friday,” said a White House official. “The president is referring to the fact that on Monday the State Department will provide more details and develop these ads, not new ones.”