After examining multiple sources of intelligence, the CIA has reached the conclusion that Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman ordered the assassination of journalist Jamal Khashoggi, two major American newspapers reported Friday.
Khashoggi was killed in Saudi Consulate in Istanbul last month, prompting a huge international focus, Turkey’s anger and a scrutiny of the conservative Arab Kingdom in the U.S. media.
The Washington Post first broke the news about the Central Intelligence Agency’s assessment. The conclusion is based on several pieces of intelligence including a phone call that the prince’s brother Khalid bin Salman, the Saudi ambassador to the United States, had with Khashoggi, the Post reported citing unnamed people familiar with the issue
The Post reports that the Saudi envoy in D.C. had suggested to Khashoggi that the journalists – a critic of the royal family and a Washington Post columnist – should travel to Saudi consulate in Istanbul to have his documents back and that it would be safe for Khashoggi to do so.
The Saudi embassy in Washington D.C. has dismissed the conclusion. Fatimah Baeshen, a spokeswoman for the Saudi Embassy in Washington, said, according to the Post that the ambassador and Khashoggi never discussed “anything related to going to Turkey.”
She termed the claims as false.
But the Post and The New York Times reports say Prince Mohammed has an iron grip on the power and it is highly unlikely that such a thing could happen without his nod.
“The accepted position is that there is no way this happened without him being aware or involved,” a U.S. official, familiar with the CIA’s conclusions, said, according to the Post.
Meanwhile, Turkey has benefited from the killing in Saudi diplomatic mission on its soil, with President Erdogan positioning himself as leader of the region.
In Washington, the findings complicate the Trump Administration’s reaction to the killing of Khashoggi. It has imposed sanctions on suspected officials involved in the killing but President Trump has apparently resisted calls to hold the Crown Prince responsible for the killing of the journalist.
