US President Joe Biden has warned Saudi Arabia’s King Salman that he will “hold them accountable for human rights abuses”, after US intelligence agencies concluded in a newly declassified intelligence report that Saudi Crown Prince, Mohammed bin Salman (MBS), approved the 2018 murder of the Washington Post journalist, Jamal Khashoggi.
Mr Khashoggi, an exiled Saudi Arabian journalist living in the US and a frequent critic of the crown prince, was murdered in October 2018.
The four-page report, contributed to mostly by the CIA, said the crown prince’s “absolute control” of the kingdom’s intelligence organisations would make it highly unlikely that such an operation could have been carried out without his authorization.
Speaking to reporters, Mr Biden confirmed that he had spoken to King Salman, and had warned there will be “significant changes” in the country’s relationship with the US.
The assessment’s release was accompanied by further actions from the Biden administration, including the unveiling of a new “Khashoggi policy”, which is set to impose visa sanctions on individuals who, acting on behalf of a foreign government, engage in “counter-dissident” activities, including harassment, surveillance, and threats against journalists, activists, and dissidents.
A statement from US Secretary of State, Antony Blinken said: “The Khashoggi Ban allows the State Department to impose visa restrictions on individuals who, acting on behalf of a foreign government, are believed to have been directly engaged in serious, extraterritorial counter-dissident activities…
“…including those that suppress, harass, surveil, threaten, or harm journalists, activists, or other persons perceived to be dissidents for their work, or who engage in such activities with respect to the families or other close associates of such persons.
“Family members of such individuals also may be subject to visa restrictions under this policy, where appropriate.”
Anthony Blinken
The statement added that “while the US remains invested in its relationship with Saudi Arabia, President Biden has made clear that partnership must reflect US values.
“To that end, we have made absolutely clear that extraterritorial threats and assaults by Saudi Arabia against activists, dissidents, and journalists must end. They will not be tolerated by the United States.”
The US treasury also issued new sanctions against Ahmad Hassan Mohammed al Asiri, the Former Deputy Head of Saudi Arabia’s General Intelligence Presidency, who is said to be ringleader of the operation and several members of the hit squad that killed the journalist.
Saudi Arabia’s Foreign Ministry rejected the accusation, calling the report’s assessment “negative, false and unacceptable” and its conclusion “unjustified and inaccurate”. A statement called the murder “an abhorrent crime and a flagrant violation of the kingdom’s laws and values”.
Mr Khashoggi, 59, had visited the Saudi consulate in Istanbul, Turkey, planning to pick up documents needed for his wedding. Once inside, he died at the hands of more than a dozen Saudi security and intelligence officials and others who had assembled ahead of his arrival.
Surveillance cameras had tracked his route and those of his alleged killers in Istanbul in the hours leading up to his killing.
Also, a Turkish recording device planted at the consulate reportedly captured the sound of a ‘forensic saw’ dismembering Mr Khashoggi’s body within an hour of him entering the building. The saw was operated by a Saudi colonel who was also a forensics expert. Khashoggi’s body has still not been found.
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