The Foreign Ministry says U.S. intelligence suspects that MBS agreed that the beating of Khashoggi was ‘negative, false and inappropriate’.
Saudi Arabia’s Foreign Ministry has rejected a report by U.S. intelligence agencies released Friday that outlines accountability to Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman (MBS) for the assassination of Jamal Khashoggi.
“The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia completely rejects the negative, misleading and inappropriate assessment in the report relating to the sovereignty of the Kingdom and notes that the information and conclusions in the report were erroneous,” the Ministry of Foreign in a statement issued by the Saudi Media Group.
A U.S. intelligence community report, released by the Office of the U.S. Director of National Intelligence, confirms that U.S. intelligence agencies had “approved MBS activity” to a Saudi journalist in Istanbul, the U.S. intelligence agency. Capture or kill Turkey.
Khashoggi was killed and taken out by a Saudi squad that struck inside a Saudi consulate in Istanbul. His body was never recovered.
“This was a heinous crime and a clear violation of the laws and values of the United Kingdom,” the ministry said in a statement.
“This crime was committed by a group of individuals who have exceeded the relevant regulations and the authorities of the organizations where they were employed,” the statement said.
“The anxious people were convicted and condemned by the courts in the kingdom and Jamal Khashoggi’s family welcomed those sentences.”
Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi will speak at a press conference on December 15, 2014, in Manama, Bahrain [File: Hasan Jamali/AP Photo]
The U.S. four-page report, which Congress needed, was withheld from public view by former President Donald Trump but was released by new President Joe Biden who promised e during his 2020 political campaign to hold the Saudis accountable for Khashoggi’s assassination.
U.S. intelligence agencies, including the CIA, have established their assessment of the role of MBS in their “decision-making control” and “direct involvement of a principal adviser” and members of the “defense detail”. them at work.
Saudi Arabia has long denied that MBS had direct knowledge of Khashoggi’s murder.
Following the release of the report on Friday, Biden administration officials announced a ban on travel on 76 Saudi nationals and imposed financial sanctions on Saudi General Major Ahmad Hassan Mohammad Asiri, a close associate of MBS.
#STATEMENT | The Government of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia completely rejects the assessment in the report submitted to the US Congress on the Murder of Saudi Citizen Jamal Khashoggi pic.twitter.com/VQwYpBjvvX
– Ministry of Foreign Affairs 🇸🇦 (@KSAmofaEN) February 26, 2021
“It is very unfortunate that this report, with its flawless and inaccurate conclusions, has been issued at a time when the nation has denied this heinous crime, and the Kingdom leadership has taken the necessary steps to ensure that such tragedy does not happen again, “the Saudi statement said.
“The Kingdom rejects any move that breaks the sovereignty, sovereignty and independence of its legal system. “
Asked about Saudi rejection of the report’s findings, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken in Washington said “the report speaks for itself” and the Biden administration is “trying to bring transparency.” to this issue and to share with the American people what we know ”.
The kingdom had given “multi-million dollar homes” and “five-figure monthly payments” to Khashoggi’s four children, according to a 2019 report by the Washington Post, a U.S. newspaper where Khashoggi had been column writer.
Khashoggi wrote in his last column before being killed about the need for a free press in the Arab world.
“State – led reporting has a profound effect on the public psyche, and while it is not widely believed, the majority of the population suffers from this false statement,” Khashoggi said.