But President Joe Biden has ordered a declassified version to be released as part of a reset where Washington is distancing itself from Prince Mohammed.
Jamal Khashoggi. Pics/AFP
Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman approved of an operation to capture or kill dissident journalist Jamal Khashoggi who was murdered in 2018, states a declassified US intelligence assessment released on Friday. The report was completed under the administration of Donald Trump in the wake of the grisly October 2018 killing.
ADVERTISEMENT
Saudi Arabian Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman
But President Joe Biden has ordered a declassified version to be released as part of a reset where Washington is distancing itself from Prince Mohammed. The report asserts that Prince Mohammed directed the assassination in which Khashoggi, a Washington Post writer and US resident, was lured to the Saudi consulate in Istanbul, then killed.
The release of the report comes on the heels of a first phone call between Biden and Saudi Arabia’s King Salman late Thursday. The White House made clear that Biden had no intention of speaking directly to the 35-year-old crown prince, who is de facto leader in Saudi Arabia and poised to take over after the ailing king.
Among the punitive steps the United States took on Friday, it imposed a visa ban on some Saudis believed to be involved in the Khashoggi killing and placed sanctions on others, including a former deputy intelligence chief, that would freeze their US assets and generally bar Americans from dealing with them.
This story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed, agencies. Mid-day accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability, trustworthiness, reliability and data of the text. Mid-day management/mid-day.com reserves the sole right to alter, delete or remove (without notice) the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever