WASHINGTON (AP) – The Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia probably approved the assassination of American journalist Jamal Khashoggi inside the Saudi consulate in Istanbul, according to a US intelligence report released on Friday. The discovery could increase pressure on the Biden government to hold the kingdom accountable for a murder that drew widespread outrage in the United States and abroad.
Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman’s public guilt was an extraordinary rebuke and probably set the tone for the new government’s relationship with a country that President Joe Biden criticized, but which the White House also considers in some contexts to be a strategic partner.
The conclusion that the prince approved an operation to kill or capture Khashoggi, a critic of his authoritarian consolidation of power, was based on what intelligence officials know about his role in decision-making within the kingdom, as well as the involvement of one of its top advisers, Saud al-Qahtani, and members of its protection class, according to the report by the Office of the Director of National Intelligence. 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 for 76 Saudi individuals involved in threats to dissidents abroad.
“For the sake of security for everyone within our borders, criminals who target perceived dissidents on behalf of any foreign government should not be allowed to reach American soil,” said Secretary of State Antony Blinken.
The declassified document was released the day after a courtesy call later than usual from Biden to Saudi King Salman, although a summary of the White House conversation made no mention of the murder and said the men had discussed the partnership. countries’ long standing. The kingdom’s Saudi state press agency also did not mention Khashoggi’s death in its summons report, instead focusing on regional issues such as Iran and the ongoing war in Yemen.
The softer tone of the call contrasted with Biden’s promise as a candidate to make Saudi Arabia “an outcast” for the murder.
Once in office, Biden said he would maintain any scale of relations with Saudi Arabia that US interests demanded. He also ordered an end to US support for the Saudi-led bombing campaign in Yemen and said he would stop selling offensive weapons to Saudi Arabia. He gave few details about what weapons and support he meant.
White House press secretary Jen Psaki told reporters on Friday that the government has made it clear that it will “recalibrate our relationship” with Saudi Arabia.
Meanwhile, Democrats were pushing for strong action.
Congressman Adam Schiff, chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, urged the Biden government to ensure that the report leads to “serious repercussions against all responsible parties it has identified, and also to reassess our relationship with Saudi Arabia”. And Senator Ron Wyden, a Democrat from Oregon and a member of the Intelligence Committee, called for consequences for the prince – such as sanctions – as well as for the Saudi kingdom as a whole.
Khashoggi had gone to the Saudi consulate to get the documents needed for his wedding. Once inside, he died at the hands of more than a dozen Saudi security and intelligence officers and others who had met before his arrival. Surveillance cameras tracked his route and that of his alleged killers in Istanbul in the hours leading up to the murder.
A Turkish insect planted at the consulate allegedly captured the sound of a forensic saw, operated by a Saudi colonel who was also a forensic specialist, dismembering Khashoggi’s body an hour after 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 under his command, but denied having ordered it. Saudi officials said the Khashoggi murder was the work of dishonest Saudi security and intelligence officials. Saudi Arabian courts announced last year that they had sentenced eight Saudi citizens to prison for the murder of Khashoggi. They have not been identified.
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Associated Press writers Ellen Knickmeyer in Oklahoma City and Aamer Madhani in Chicago contributed to this report.