Killing Khashoggi .. American work

[spaminator]

Evidence suggests Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman liable for Khashoggi murder: UN expert
Reuters
Published:
June 19, 2019
Updated:
June 19, 2019 9:40 AM EDT
Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman waits for the family photo during the G20 summit in Buenos Aires, Argentina on Nov. 30, 2018.Andres Martinez Casares / Reuters / Pool / Files
GENEVA — Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and other senior Saudi officials should be investigated over the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi since there is credible evidence they are liable for his death, a U.N. rights investigator said on Wednesday.
There was no immediate response from the Saudi government communications office, but the kingdom has regularly denied accusations that the prince was involved. Riyadh was sent the 100-page report some three weeks in advance.
Khashoggi’s killing provoked widespread revulsion and tarnished the image of the Crown Prince, previously admired in the West for pushing deep changes including tax reform, infrastructure projects and allowing women to drive.
Agnes Callamard, the U.N. special rapporteur on extrajudicial executions, called on countries to invoke universal jurisdiction for what she called the international crime and make arrests if individuals’ responsibility is proven.
She also urged countries to widen sanctions to include the Crown Prince, who many consider the kingdom’s de facto ruler, and his personal assets abroad, until and unless he can prove he has no responsibility.
Agnes Callamard, United Nation special rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions, answers questions on a report of the killing of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi on Wednesday, June 19, 2019 in Geneva. Fabrice Coffrini / AFP / Getty Images
Khashoggi, a critic of the prince and a Washington Post columnist, was last seen at the Saudi consulate in Istanbul on Oct 2 where he was to receive papers ahead of his wedding.
His body was dismembered and removed from the building, the Saudi prosecutor has said, and his remains have not been found.
“It is the conclusion of the Special Rapporteur that Mr. Khashoggi has been the victim of a deliberate, premeditated execution, an extrajudicial killing for which the state of Saudi Arabia is responsible under international human rights law,” Callamard said in her report based on a six-month investigation.
The Saudi public prosecutor indicted 11 unnamed suspects in November, including five who could face the death penalty on charges of ordering and committing the crime.
Callamard said the Saudi trial should be suspended, citing concerns over secret hearings and a potential miscarriage of justice.
The CIA and some Western countries believe the Crown Prince ordered the killing, which Saudi officials deny.
The U.N. report publishes excerpts from what it calls conversations inside the consulate shortly before Khashoggi arrived at the building and during his final moments, in which a Saudi official is heard discussing cutting a body into pieces.
The material relies on recordings and forensic work by Turkish investigators and information from the trials of the suspects in Saudi Arabia, the report said. Callamard said that she could not reach firm conclusions about what the team was told was the sound of a “saw” in the operation.
Callamard went to Turkey earlier this year with a team of forensic and legal experts and said she received evidence from Turkish authorities.
“There is credible evidence, warranting further investigation of high-level Saudi officials’ individual liability, including the Crown Prince’s,” she said.
“Indeed, this human rights inquiry has shown that there is sufficient credible evidence regarding the responsibility of the Crown Prince demanding further investigation,” she added, urging U.N. Secretary-General to establish an international probe.
Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said Turkey strongly endorsed the U.N.’s recommendations regarding Khashoggi’s murder.
Asked if universal jurisdiction meant potential arrests abroad of suspects, Callamard told reporters: “If and when the responsibility of those individuals has been proven, including the responsibilities of a level that warrant arrest, absolutely.”
Judicial authorities in countries that recognize universal jurisdiction for serious offenses can investigate and prosecute those crimes no matter where they were committed.
U.S. pushes for Saudi ‘tangible’ progress on Khashoggi probe
Khashoggi’s fiancee could also have been a victim: Police report
Saudis insist Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman had no role in Khashoggi killing
http://torontosun.com/news/world/ev...-salman-liable-for-khashoggi-murder-un-expert

 

[spilledthebeer]

Iran is one of Trump's blindspots. There is absolutely no advantage to America siding with the criminal regime in Saudi Arabia (and its murderous and tyrannical Crown Prince), which is a far more virulent proponent of Terrorism, and Islamic infiltration, of the West through it Wahabee Sect than is Iran.

It comes down to Jared Kushner and Benjamin Netanyahu.. and to the rabid support of Israel by prophetic Evangelicals in the States. Netanyahu considers Iran an existential threat to his vision of a 'Greater Israel' and Kushner is his dutiful Zionist soldier. Trump really just follows the conservative weathervane on the issue.

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!




The "criminal regime" in Riyadh is FRIENDLY to the west...........................................


and it has made peace with the Jews



The "criminal regime" in Tehran HATES THE WEST.....................................................


and sponsors all manner of terrorist activity!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


In Syria in support of Asad!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


In Yemen in support of Houthy rebels trying to sabotage the govt!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


In the various places here PLO "fighters" and Hezzbollah terrorists gather to plot ways to drive the Jews into the sea!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


The regime in Riyadh wants to be left alone....................................


the regime in Tehran wants to dominate the World Wide Caliphate!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[spaminator]

Saudi Arabia sentences five to death, three to jail over Khashoggi murder
Reuters
Published:
December 23, 2019
Updated:
December 23, 2019 7:22 PM EST
RIYADH/WASHINGTON — Saudi Arabia on Monday sentenced five people to death and three to jail over the murder of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi, but a UN investigator accused it of making a “mockery” of justice by allowing the masterminds of last year’s killing to go free.
A Saudi court rejected the findings of a UN inquiry by ruling that the killing was not premeditated, but carried out “at the spur of the moment.” Saudi Deputy Public Prosecutor and spokesman Shalaan al-Shalaan said the court dismissed charges against three of the 11 people tried, finding them not guilty.
A senior official of the Trump administration, which critics say has been too soft on Saudi Arabia over the killing of Khashoggi, called the verdicts “an important step” in holding those responsible accountable.
Another senior U.S. official said Washington would go on pressing for full accountability. Khashoggi was a U.S. resident and a critic of the kingdom’s de facto ruler Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, also known as MbS.
A source familiar with U.S. intelligence assessments said key U.S. government agencies rejected the validity of the court proceedings and CIA experts still believed the crown prince personally ordered, or at least approved of, the killing.
The source said the five men condemned to death were essentially foot soldiers in the killing, while two senior security officials acquitted played a more significant role.
A Saudi prosecutor said there was no evidence connecting one of those senior officials, Saud al-Qahtani, to the killing and the court dismissed charges against Ahmed al-Asiri, a former deputy intelligence chief.
Khashoggi was last seen at the Saudi consulate in Istanbul on Oct. 2, 2018, where he had gone to obtain documents for his impending wedding. His body was reportedly dismembered and removed from the building, and his remains have not been found.
The murder caused a global uproar, tarnishing the crown prince’s image. Some Western governments, as well as the CIA, said they believed he had ordered the killing.
Saudi officials say he had no role, though in September MbS indicated some personal accountability, saying “it happened under my watch.”
‘MOCKERY’ OF JUSTICE
Agnes Callamard, the UN special rapporteur for extrajudicial summary or arbitrary executions, said the trial verdict was a “mockery” of justice.
“The hit-men are guilty, sentenced to death. The masterminds not only walk free, they have barely been touched by the investigation and the trial,” she said on Twitter.
Why the sentence today is anything BUT Justice for #JamalKhashoggi: a) the hearings were held behind closed door even though none of the justification for holding a trial in camera under international law applied to this particular trial
— Agnes Callamard (@AgnesCallamard) December 23, 2019
c) Under international human rights law, the killing of Mr. #Khashoggi was an extrajudicial execution for which the State of #SaudiArabia is responsible. But at no point did the trial considered the responsibilities of the State.
— Agnes Callamard (@AgnesCallamard) December 23, 2019
e) The Judge appeared to have concluded that the killing of Mr. #Khashoggi was an accident since there seems to be no intent. To suggest that on the spare of the moment, the killers decided to cut down his body is utterly ridiculous. Dismemberment requires minimum planning.
— Agnes Callamard (@AgnesCallamard) December 23, 2019
g) According to my sources, the prosecutor had argued that the killing of Mr. Khashoggi had been premeditated. The Crown Prince had argued that this was an accident against the evidence. Guess who the Judge followed?
— Agnes Callamard (@AgnesCallamard) December 23, 2019
i) The Consul of #SaudiArabia who agreed for his Consul and office to become a crime scene was found not guilty. Even though he took all necessary precautions to ensure there will be no eye witness present in the consulate.
— Agnes Callamard (@AgnesCallamard) December 23, 2019
k) Impunity for the killing of a journalist commonly reveals political repression, corruption, abuse of power, propaganda, and even international complicity. All are present in #SaudiArabia killing of #JamalKhashoggi. (PM me for more comments.)
— Agnes Callamard (@AgnesCallamard) December 23, 2019
Eleven Saudi suspects were put on trial in secretive proceedings in the capital Riyadh. None of their names was immediately released.
“The investigation showed that the killing was not premeditated … The decision was taken at the spur of the moment,” Shalaan said, a position directly contradicting the findings of a United Nations-led investigation.
The UN-led inquiry reported in February that the evidence pointed to “a brutal and premeditated killing, planned and perpetrated” by Saudi officials.
The publisher of the Washington Post, a newspaper for which Khashoggi wrote a column, said the lack of transparency and the Saudi government’s refusal to cooperate with independent investigators suggested “a sham trial.”
“Those ultimately responsible, at the highest level of the Saudi government, continue to escape responsibility for the brutal murder of Jamal Khashoggi,” Fred Ryan said in a statement.
Human rights group Amnesty International said the verdict was a “whitewash” that failed to address the Saudi authorities’ involvement or the location of Khashoggi’s remains.
However, one of Khashoggi’s sons said the verdicts had been fair to his children.
“We affirm our confidence in the Saudi judiciary at all levels, that it has been fair to us and that justice has been achieved,” Salah Khashoggi said on Twitter.
Saudi deputy public prosecutor and spokesman Shalaan al-Shalaan delivers a speech in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia Dec. 23, 2019. SAUDI PRESS AGENCY / VIA REUTERS
TWO SENIOR FIGURES FREED
Last November, the Saudi prosecutor said Qahtani, a former high-profile Saudi royal adviser, had discussed Khashoggi’s activities before he entered the Saudi consulate with the team which went on to kill him.
The prosecutor had said Qahtani acted in coordination with Asiri, who he said had ordered Khashoggi’s repatriation from Turkey and that the lead negotiator on the ground then decided to kill him.
Both men were dismissed from their positions but while Asiri was tried, Qahtani was not.
On Monday, Shalaan said Asiri has been tried and released due to insufficient evidence, and Qahtani had been investigated but was not charged and had been released.
Shalaan also said the Saudi consul-general to Turkey at the time, Mohammed al-Otaibi, had been freed after Turkish witnesses said Otaibi had been with them on the day of the crime. Two weeks ago, the United States barred Otaibi from entering the country.
Sources familiar with the matter told Reuters last year that Maher Mutreb, the lead negotiator, and Salah al-Tubaigy, a forensic expert specializing in autopsies, were also on trial for the murder and could face the death penalty.
On Monday, Shalaan said that when the Saudi team that entered the consulate saw it would not be possible to transfer Khashoggi to a safe place to continue negotiating, they decided to kill him.
“It was agreed, in consultation between the head of the negotiating team and the culprits, to kill Jamal Khashoggi inside the consulate,” Shalaan said in response to questions from journalists.
Saudi crown prince calls for 'decisive stand' on tanker attacks
Uber CEO says he was wrong to call Khashoggi killing a 'mistake'
Evidence suggests Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman liable for Khashoggi murder: UN expert

http://torontosun.com/news/world/sa...-to-death-three-to-jail-over-khashoggi-murder

 

[Danbones]

lol They must have learned arabacide from hitlary over in Libya.

 

[spilledthebeer]

======================================================================================================





WOW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


Torch light IS EVEN DELUDED ABOUT HIS QURAN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


Better run and check the early pages - in which Muhamed PROHIBITED Muslims from eating Camel flesh!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


And He also prohibited Muslims from eating Rabbits.........God alone knows why!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


Later in the Quran there are reports of Muhamed and other senior Imams eating Camel flesh!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


And there is a piece about how Muhamed happily accepted the gift of a haunch of Rabbit and ate it with enjoyment!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


SUCH A SINNER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


Or maybe Muhamed is a little bit ABSENT MINDED and FORGOT about not eating Rabbits and Camels????????????


Poor stupid Muslims focus on the irrelevant and the foolish while their world crumbles!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Oh - and speaking of Camels..................................


the old roads from Squamish and the coast - through to the gold fields of Barkerville............................


especially the HUGE HILL AT PAVILION ....................................



were SO BAD that CAMELS were actually shipped into B.C. in hope they would be better at hauling in........................


food and freight in to the miners than horses!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


See - Cdns like Camels................................


though Cdn horses do not!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


Cdn horses tended to stampede when confronted by Camels!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[AnnaEmber]

USA (and the Jewish Zionist Trump) milked out Saudi Arabia .. taking from them about 1/2 trillion dollars .. supposed to be for advanced military weapons.

USA has prepared some offense against Iran.. because Iran is relatively a powerful Muslim country .. and the Wicked Zionists of Tel Aviv don't like it.

The crown prince (a servant of US intelligence and servant of Tel Aviv Zionists) has been prepared by the intelligence of USA and Tel Aviv to act like Saddam to make war .. etc. He is cruel and all people start to dread him and to act the hypocrite so as to praise and admire him (like what people did towards Saddam), and the Crown Prince should have a strong control so that he can wage war without anyone objecting to him .. etc.)

Khashoggi defended Al-Quds and the Aqsa Mosque .. he wrote some columns about this in the Washington Post Newspaper and he had many youtubes about Palestine and the Aqsa mosque .. the Wicked Zionists of Tel Aviv don't like it.



Now, there has been some affair (certainly an evil affair) between Saudi and US, their king or crown prince asked the cooperation of Trump ..
Trump demanded of him 4 billion dollars ..
the Saudi refused; he said: I cannot give you any additional money, you have already milked us out! I have other requirement of expenditure and other projects.
Trump said: We protect you and you have money, so you should give us.
Then Trump said to them [as also published in his tweets]: Without our protection, you Saudi government cannot stay in power even for two weeks!

Afterwards, this strange story of Khashoggi happened.

So the Wicked Zionists of Tel Aviv + the USA intelligence got rid of Khashoggi who worked actively against Tel Aviv and who defended Al-Aqsa mosque .. and at the same time they exerted much pressure against the guilty Saudi government.

What goes along with this explanation, is the weird going of Khashoggi to the Saudi Consulate on his feet in cautious way, where a trap had been made readily prepared for him.

lmao
Yeah, the USA went into the Saudi Consulate and did it. /s And I have seen fish ride bicycles, birds operate excavators, and humans walking to Jupiter.

 

[spilledthebeer]

lmao
Yeah, the USA went into the Saudi Consulate and did it. /s And I have seen fish ride bicycles, birds operate excavators, and humans walking to Jupiter.

Yeah............YOU REALLY HAVE TO WONDER about the thought process.......................


of some of these anti Zionists!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


If the Jews are so all powerful then how come they have not .............................


MUZZLED all the Muslim nitwits?????????????????????????????

 

[spaminator]

U.S. report on Khashoggi death expected to point finger at Saudi crown prince
Author of the article:Reuters
Reuters
Mark Hosenball and Jonathan Landay and Trevor Hunnicutt
Publishing date:Feb 24, 2021 • 19 hours ago • 2 minute read • comment bubbleJoin the conversation
Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman attends a session of the Shura Council in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia November 20, 2019.
Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman attends a session of the Shura Council in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia November 20, 2019. PHOTO BY BANDAR ALGALOUD /Handout via REUTERS
Article content
WASHINGTON — The Biden administration is expected to release a declassified U.S. intelligence report on Thursday finding that Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman approved the 2018 killing of journalist Jamal Khashoggi, four officials familiar with the matter said.

The release would represent the latest move by U.S. President Joe Biden to realign ties with Riyadh after years in which Washington largely gave its key Arab ally and major oil producer a pass on its human rights record, intervention in Yemen’s civil war and other issues.


The report’s release is expected to coincide with the first phone conversation, possibly on Wednesday, between Biden and Saudi King Salman since Biden took over the presidency.

Biden is shifting U.S. policy away from the cozy relationship that the White House of former president Donald Trump had with the crown prince. Biden is working to bring contact with Riyadh back along traditional lines after four years under Trump.

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White House spokeswoman Jen Psaki told reporters on Wednesday Biden would only have communications with the 85-year-old Saudi king and said the declassified Khashoggi report was being readied for release and will come out soon.


The 59-year old Khashoggi, a Saudi journalist and Washington Post columnist, was lured to the Saudi consulate in Istanbul on Oct. 2, 2018, and killed by a team of operatives linked to the crown prince, the kingdom’s de facto ruler. They then dismembered his body. His remains have never been found.

Riyadh eventually admitted that Khashoggi was killed in an “rogue” extradition operation gone wrong, but it denied any involvement by the crown prince. Five men given the death penalty for the murder had their sentences commuted to 20 years in jail after being forgiven by Khashoggi’s family.

Four U.S. officials, speaking on condition of anonymity, said that the declassified U.S. intelligence report – to which the CIA was the main contributor – assessed that the crown prince approved and likely ordered the murder of Khashoggi, who had used his Washington Post column to criticize the crown prince’s policies.

A classified version of the report was briefed to Congress in late 2018.

But the Trump administration rejected demands by lawmakers and human rights groups to release a declassified version, seeking to preserve cooperation amid rising tensions with Riyadh’s regional rival, Iran, and promote U.S. arms sales to the kingdom.

Biden pledged during the 2020 presidential campaign to reassess U.S.-Saudi ties in part over Khashoggi’s murder. Since taking office, he has ended sales of offensive arms that Riyadh could use in Yemen and appointed a special envoy to boost diplomat efforts to end that country’s grueling civil war.

U.S. report on Khashoggi death expected to point finger at Saudi crown prince

WASHINGTON — The Biden administration is expected to release a declassified U.S. intelligence report on Thursday finding that Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman…

torontosun.com

 

[spaminator]

Saudi crown prince approved operation to capture or kill Khashoggi
Author of the article:Reuters
Reuters
Jonathan Landay
Publishing date:Feb 26, 2021 • 20 hours ago • 4 minute read • comment bubbleJoin the conversation
Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman attends a graduation ceremony for the 95th batch of cadets from the King Faisal Air Academy in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia December 23, 2018.
Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman attends a graduation ceremony for the 95th batch of cadets from the King Faisal Air Academy in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia December 23, 2018. PHOTO BY HANDOUT /REUTERS
Article content
WASHINGTON — Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman approved of an operation to capture or kill dissident journalist Jamal Khashoggi, who was murdered in 2018, according to a declassified intelligence assessment released on Friday in a manner choreographed to limit damage to U.S.-Saudi ties

Khashoggi, a U.S. resident who wrote opinion columns for the Washington Post critical of the crown prince’s policies, was killed and dismembered by a team of operatives linked to the crown prince in the kingdom’s consulate in Istanbul.


Riyadh has denied any involvement by the crown prince, Saudi Arabia’s de facto ruler.

“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 U.S. Office of the Director of National Intelligence said in the report.

The intelligence agency based its assessment on the crown price’s control of decision-making, the direct involvement of one of his key advisers and his own protective detail, and his “support for using violent measures to silence dissidents abroad, including Khashoggi,” it added.

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“Since 2017, the Crown Prince has had absolute control of the Kingdom’s security and intelligence organizations, making it highly unlikely that Saudi officials would have carried out an operation of this nature without the Crown Prince’s authorization,” the report said.

In declassifying the report, President Joe Biden reversed his predecessor Donald Trump’s refusal to release it in defiance of a 2019 law, reflecting a new U.S. willingness to challenge the kingdom on issues from human rights to the war in Yemen.

However, Biden is treading a fine line to preserve ties with the kingdom as he seeks to revive the 2015 nuclear deal with its regional rival Iran and to address other challenges including fighting Islamist extremism and advancing Arab-Israeli ties.

In this file photo taken on October 02, 2020, friends of murdered Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi hold posters bearing his picture as they attend an event marking the second-year anniversary of his assassination in front of Saudi Arabia Istanbul Consulate.
In this file photo taken on October 02, 2020, friends of murdered Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi hold posters bearing his picture as they attend an event marking the second-year anniversary of his assassination in front of Saudi Arabia Istanbul Consulate. PHOTO BY OZAN KOSE /AFP via Getty Images
Washington choreographed events to soften the blow, with Biden on Thursday speaking with the crown prince’s 85-year-old father, King Salman, in a call in which both sides said they reaffirmed their decades-old alliance and pledged cooperation.

The Biden administration will announce sanctions and visa bans on Friday targeting Saudi Arabian citizens over the Khashoggi killing, although it will not impose sanctions on the crown prince, U.S. officials said.

As it reasseses relations with one of its closest Arab allies, the United States is also considering the cancellation of arms deals with Saudi Arabia that pose human rights concerns while limiting future military sales to “defensive” weapons, sources familiar with the administration’s thinking said.

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A State Department spokesperson said the U.S. focus was on ending the conflict in Yemen even as it ensures Saudi Arabia has everything it needs to defend its territory.

The declassified intelligence echoed a classified version of a report on Khashoggi’s murder that Trump shared with members of Congress in late 2018.

Trump’s rejection of demands by lawmakers and human rights groups to release a declassified version at the time reflected a desire to preserve cooperation with Riyadh amid rising tensions with Iran and to promote U.S. arms sales to the kingdom.


Biden’s new director of national intelligence, Avril Haines, has committed to complying with a 2019 bill that required her office to release a declassified report on Khashoggi’s murder.

Khashoggi, 59, was a Saudi journalist living in self-imposed exile in Virginia who wrote opinion pieces for the Washington Post critical of the policies of the crown prince – known to some in the West as MbS.

He was lured on Oct. 2, 2018, to the Saudi consulate in Istanbul with a promise of a document that he needed to marry his Turkish fiancee. A team of operatives linked to MbS killed him there and dismembered his body. His remains have not been found.

Riyadh initially issued conflicting stories about his disappearance, but eventually admitted that Khashoggi was killed in what it called a “rogue” extradition operation gone wrong.

Twenty-one men were arrested in the killing and five senior officials, including the deputy intelligence chief, Ahmed al-Asiri, and Saud al-Qahtani, a senior MbS aide, were sacked.

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In January 2019, 11 people were put on trial behind closed doors. Five were given death sentences, which were commuted to 20 years in prison after they were forgiven by Khashoggi’s family, while three others were given jail terms.

Asiri was tried but acquitted “due to insufficient evidence,” the prosecution said, while Qahtani was investigated but not charged.

As part of Biden’s rebalancing of ties with Saudi Arabia, he will only communicate with King Salman, the White House has said, a move that may allow Washington to put some distance between itself and the crown prince, aged 35.

That will restore protocol broken by Trump and his son-in-law and top aide, Jared Kushner, who maintained a direct channel to the crown prince.

MbS has consolidated power since ousting his uncle as heir to the throne in a 2017 palace coup, seeking to win public support by overseeing popular economic and social reforms.

But he also has had opponents and women’s rights activists detained and pursued risky foreign gambits, some of which backfired, like the intervention in Yemen, where a war between Saudi and Iranian proxies has created a humanitarian crisis.

Saudi crown prince approved operation to capture or kill Khashoggi

WASHINGTON — Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman approved of an operation to capture or kill dissident journalist Jamal Khashoggi, who was murdered in 2018, acco…

torontosun.com