Iran Press/America: The Washington Post, citing unnamed people familiar with the matter, said that the CIA had reached the conclusion that the Saudi de facto ruler had ordered the assassination, contradicting Riyadh’s claims that he was not involved in the killing.
According to the American daily newspaper, to which Jamal Khashoggi was a contributing columnist, in conducting its assessment, the CIA examined multiple sources of intelligence, including a phone call that the prince’s brother Khalid bin Salman, the Saudi ambassador to the US, had with the ill-fated journo, telling him to go to the Saudi diplomatic mission and giving him assurances that it would be safe to do so.
But shortly after the report was published, the Saudi ambassador to the US denied in a tweet he had spoken to the slain journalist by phone or had suggested he go to Turkey.
Khashoggi, 59, an outspoken critic of Mohammed bin Salman, disappeared after he entered the Saudi diplomatic mission in the Turkish city on October 2 to complete some paperwork for his forthcoming marriage.
However, as diplomatic pressure grew tremendously on Riyadh to give an account on the mysterious fate of its national, in an unexpected statement last month, Saudi Attorney General Sheikh Saud al-Mojeb admitted that Khashoggi had been killed in a “premeditated” attack in the consulate.
After 18 days of silence and rejecting claims that Khashoggi was killed, the Saudi government finally bowed down to international pressure on October 20th and claimed the prominent journalist was killed in a fist-fight inside Istanbul consulate.
Earlier this month, Istanbul Chief Public Prosecutor Irfan Fidan said the ill-fated journalist had been strangled upon his arrival in the consulate, and then his body was dismembered and destroyed.
Riyadh claims that the Saudi royal family had no prior knowledge about any murder plot.
The prosecutor’s conclusion contradicted assertions by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who had said the orders to kill Khashoggi had come from “the highest levels of the Saudi government.”
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Erdogan said the orders to kill Khashoggi had come from “the highest levels of the Saudi government
Now, the CIA’s assessment is the most definitive to date linking the crown prince to the operation and complicates the efforts made by US President Donald Trump’s administration to preserve its relationship with a close ally.
The American president has so far resisted pinning the blame for the killing on Mohammed bin Salman, who holds a close relationship with Jared Kushner, Trump’s son-in-law and senior adviser.
Trump resisted pinning the blame for the killing on Mohammed bin Salman
The CIA, according to the report, also examined a call placed from inside the diplomatic mission after murdering Khashoggi by an alleged member of the Saudi hit team, Maher Mutreb, a security official who has often been seen at Mohammed bin Salman’s side and who was photographed entering and exiting the consulate on the day of the killing.
Mutreb called Saud al-Qahtani, then one of the top aides to the crown prince, and informed him that the operation had been completed, it added.
Through a phone call on Friday evening, Erdogan and Trump agreed that all aspects of the murder of Khashoggi should be uncovered, the Turkish presidency said in a statement.
“Agreeing on the need to shed light on all aspects and to prevent a cover-up of Jamal Khashoggi’s slaying, the leaders have stressed the importance of close cooperation between Turkey and the United States in the fight against all terrorist organizations,” it added.
In Oct 16, 2018, Turkish media based on first audio leaks reported that Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi was killed by being gradually dismembered by a Saudi assassination squad tied to Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman inside Saudi consulate.
Jamal Khashoggi audio leaks shows he was killed within minutes of entering Saudi consulate in Istanbul.
Turkish daily Yeni Safak reported it had heard audio recordings of Jamal Khashoggi being tortured during an interrogation, having his fingers cut off and then being decapitated. 101/202
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