“We assess that Prince Muhammad bin Salman, Crown of Saudi Arabia, has agreed to take action in Istanbul, Turkey to capture or kill Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi,” the executive summary of the report saying.
“We base this assessment of the Prince of the Crown’s control over decision-making in the Kingdom, the direct involvement of the principal adviser and members of Muhammad bin Salman’s defense details in the work, and the support of The Crown Prince for the use of brutal measures to suppress disagreements abroad. , including Khashoggi, “the report states.
The Biden administration handed the long-awaited confirmed intelligence report to Congress before it was released to the public on Friday.
Shortly after the report was released, Secretary of State Antony Blinken announced a new “Ban Khashoggi” that will allow the US to restrict visas to individuals working on behalf of a foreign government directly involved in “Adverse external dissenting activities, including harassing, harassing, monitoring, threatening or harming journalists, activists or dissidents others who are seen as dissenters for their work. “
Blinken said in a statement that the ban, which could also cover family members, would be immediately applied to 76 “Saudi individuals” believed to have been involved in the crackdown. ‘the threat of foreign disagreements, including but not limited to Khashoggi’s assassination. ”
The Treasury Department continued to impose sanctions against former Saudi intelligence officer Ahmed Hassan Mohammed al Asiri, as well as personal details of the crown prince, the Rapid Intervention Force, also known as the Tiger Squad . These officers were named under an order of action that “builds on and enforces the Magnitsky Global Human Rights Accountability Act and targets perpetrators of human rights abuses and corruption worldwide , “the department said in a statement.
The report notes bin Salman’s “total control” over Saudi intelligence and security activity.
Total control
“Since 2017, The Crown Prince has had complete control over the UK’s security and intelligence agencies, making it highly unlikely that Saudi officials would have carried out such activity without the Crown Prince’s consent. “The report states.
It says a 15-person Saudi team arrived in Istanbul in October 2018 when Khashoggi was assassinated including members affiliated with the Saudi Center for Investigations and Media Affairs (CSMARC) at the Royal Court, on the led by bin Salman’s close adviser, as well as “seven of Muhammad bin Salman’s elite personal defense details, known as the Rapid Intervention Force.”
The report notes that bin Salman saw Khashoggi as a threat to the Kingdom “and generally supported the use of violent measures if necessary, to keep him quiet.”
The intelligence report says they have not yet seen the details of when the Saudis decided to harm the father of five. “While Saudi officials had pre-planned an unprovoked action against Khashoggi we do not know how far in advance Saudi officials decided to harm him,” he said.
The report also noted that, at the time of Khashoggi ‘s assassination, “the crown prince was cultivating an environment in which supporters feared he could be shot or arrested if he did not carry out specified actions. “
‘Illegal will not stand’
House Republican Foreign Affairs chief Michael McCaul said in a statement that he “strongly” supports Khashoggi’s ban call and called on Saudi Arabia “a permanent halt, harassment and violence against journalists and dissent to take back the trust of the United States and the world. “
Democratic lawyers who had been pushing for years for President Donald Trump to take a tougher stance on the Khashoggi case were proposing a proposal to release the report.
“His courageous journalism cost Jamal a life. However, for years, the last administration protected the Saudi regime from any kind of obligation or scrutiny,” Sen. Ron Wyden, an Oregon Democrat, said in a statement. “Today, thanks to President Biden and DNI Haines, America is sending the message that this injustice will not stand.”
Representative. Adam Schiff, a California Democrat who chairs the House Select Committee for Intelligence, said that “the highest levels of the Saudi government, including Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, have been killed in the murder of American journalist and resident Jamal Khashoggi, and his escape from that stark reality has not been laid bare. ”Schiff also said in a statement that the report“ confirms why claims Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman reiterated that he was neither ignorant nor unsolved in this heinous crime.
Sen. Virgin Democrat and chairman of the Senate Select Committee on Information, Mark Warner, said, “For too long, the United States has failed to hold Saudi Arabia accountable for the brutal murder of a journalist, dissident, and anti- Virginia Jamal Khashoggi. “
Democrat New Jersey Sen. Robert Menendez, chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, went on to say that Biden had demonstrated his commitment to transparency and compliance with the law “by ending Donald Trump’s coverage of Jamal Khashoggi’s murder. “
Shortly after Khashoggi’s death in October 2018, the CIA assessed with high confidence that the crown prince had personally ordered their assassination.
But during the Trump administration, U.S. intelligence officials never spoke publicly or gave evidence about the assassination at the Saudi Arabian consulate in Istanbul, and at the time, Trump firmly defended a young, de facto governor. of the country, often referred to as MBS.
Trump told historian Bob Woodward about the crown prince, “I saved his ass.” Woodward wrote in his book “Rage” that Trump also in January 2020 said “I was able to leave Congress by itself. I could make them stop. “
The crown prince has denied ordering Khashoggi’s murder but is said to be in charge.
“This was a terrible crime,” he said in an interview with CBS in 2019. “But I take full responsibility as a leader in Saudi Arabia, especially since it was committed by individuals who working for the Saudi government. “
On Friday, Callamard called on the U.S. to state its conclusions on “Khashoggi’s brutal execution,” Saudi Arabia’s announcement of how and where Khashoggi’s remains were destroyed and said since its remains have yet to be found, international crime rape extermination continues. “His loved ones are still suffering more suffering until Saudi Arabia reveals what has been done with what is left of it,” she said.
Khashoggi’s fiancé, Hatice Cengiz, told CNN’s Christiane Amanpour in an emotional live telephone interview, “I [more] destructive than ever. Now I believe he will never return. ”She called on world leaders to take action“ for justice for Jamal. “
Cengiz was waiting for Khashoggi outside the Saudi consulate in Istanbul, which he applied for to obtain papers necessary for the upcoming marriage. He was never seen again.
Kylie Atwood from CNN and Ellie Kaufman in Washington and Madalena Araujo in London contributed to this report.