US intelligence is expected to publish today (Thursday) an unclassified report, which shows that the Saudi heir, Muhammad bin Salman, Confirmed the murder of journalist Jamal Khashukji in 2018, according to senior officials involved in the details.
Officials added that the report, written under the auspices of the US CIA, revealed that the regent had ordered the murder of the journalist when he arrived at the Saudi consulate in Istanbul. The journalist, as I recall, often attacked Ben Salman in a column he used to write for the Washington Post.
President of the United States, Joe Biden, Also review the report and is expected to speak with 85-year-old King Salman, the father of the de facto regent. This, as part of President Biden’s policy to renew ties with Riyadh, after years of allowing the Allies to violate human rights in the country, largely under Trump’s auspices.
White House spokeswoman Jen Pasaki said the US president was expected to speak only with the king, and that the report on the journalist’s assassination would be published soon. Also, in parallel with Biden’s attempt to deepen ties in Saudi Arabia, other government officials are holding talks with senior Saudi officials. “We have been in touch with senior Saudi officials for the first few weeks with the entry into the administration,” said Secretary of State Ned Price.
Riyadh had previously claimed that Khushkji was killed during a failed extradition operation, but denied any involvement of the regent. Five of the men involved in the case were sentenced to death for the murder, which was eventually commuted to 20 years in prison after the journalist’s family fell ill.
In 2019, UN human rights investigator Agnes Kalmard accused Saudi Arabia of deliberately executing the journalist and even called for further investigation.
Muhammad bin Salman and son of Jamal Hashukaji (Photo: Reuters)