U.S. Finds Saudi Crown Prince Responsible in Killing of Journalist

U.S. intelligence has found Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman culpable in the 2018 killing of Jamal Khashoggi. It still isn’t clear what, if anything, the Biden Administration can do about it.

(Osaka — Japão, 29/06/2019) Presidente da República, Jair Bolsonaro, durante encontro Bilateral com o Principe Herdeiro da Arábia Saudita, Mohammed Bin Salman. Foto: Alan Santos/PR.

The Biden Administration released an intelligence report this week on Saudi Crown Prince Muhammad bin Salman’s role in the killing of Jamal Khashoggi, the dissident and Washington Post columnist who was drugged and dismembered in 2018.

“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 intelligence report released by U.S. officials said.

U.S. intelligence agencies say their assessment was based on MBS’s, “control of decision-making in the Kingdom, the direct involvement of a key adviser and members of Muhammed bin Salman’s protective detail in the operation, and the Crown Prince’s support for using violent measures to silence dissidents abroad, including Khashoggi.”

Saudi journalist, Global Opinions columnist for the Washington Post, and former editor-in-chief of Al-Arab News Channel Jamal Khashoggi offers remarks during POMED’s “Mohammed bin Salman’s Saudi Arabia: A Deeper Look.” March 21, 2018. (photo: April Brady/Project on Middle East Democracy)

U.S. Secretary of State Anthony Blinken added a new category of sanctions he called the “Khashoggi ban”.