US intelligence report reveals that Saudi crown prince ‘approved’ Khashoggi murder operation
Washington (QNN)- The Office of Director of National Intelligence on Friday declassified its report on the murder of Saudi dissident Jamal Khashoggi, revealing that Saudi Arabia’s crown prince approved an operation to capture or kill him.
“We assess that Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Muhammad bin Salman approved an operation in Istanbul, Turkey to capture or kill Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi,” the report’s executive summary states.
“We base this assessment on the Crown Prince’s control of decision-making in the Kingdom, the direct involvement of a key adviser and members of Muhammad bin Salman’s protective detail in the operation, and the Crown Prince’s support for using violent measures to silence dissidents abroad, including Khashoggi,” the report says.
The Biden administration provided the long-awaited declassified intelligence report to Congress ahead of its public release on Friday.
The release of the report followed a phone call President Joe Biden had with Saudi King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al-Saud on Thursday.
The four-page document, titled “Assessing the Saudi Government’s Role in the Killing of Jamal Khashoggi” is dated February 11 and marked as declassified by Director of National Intelligence Avril Haines on February 25.
Shortly after the report’s release, Secretary of State Antony Blinken announced a new “Khashoggi Ban” that allows the US to restrict visas for individuals acting on behalf of a foreign government who are directly engaged in “serious, extraterritorial counter-dissident activities, including those that suppress, harass, surveil, threaten, or harm journalists, activists, or other persons perceived to be dissidents for their work.”
