Report Implicates Saudi Prince Salman in Jamal Khashoggi Murder
- Jamal Khashoggi was a Saudi Arabian journalist, author and columnist for The Washington Post who was murdered in 2018
- He once served as an adviser to the Saudi government but fell out with the leadership of King Salman bin Abdulaziz al-Saud
- He sought refuge in the US where he started criticising the Saudi government through his monthly columns published in the Washington Post
- On 2 October 2018, he was attacked and killed while visiting the Saudi consulate in Istanbul, Turkey
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A US intelligence report has linked Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman to the brutal murder of Jamal Khashoggi, a Saudi Arabian journalist, author and columnist for The Washington Post.
He was assassinated at the Saudi consulate in Istanbul on 2 October, 2018 by suspected Saudi government agents.
The US intelligence team launched a probe into the murder of Khashoggi, and the long-awaited declassified report was finally tabled before the US Congress on Thursday, 26 February, according to reports.
Source: Getty Images
The document indicated there were sufficient reasons to believe Salman approved the operation to capture or kill Khashoggi during his visit to Istanbul, Turkey.
Three key findings
Salman is the son of Saudi King Salman bin Abdulaziz al-Saud and is considered to be the effective ruler of the kingdom. The report noted that since 2017, Salman has been in charge of the Saudi government's key decision-making processes and operations.
The detectives also established that one of Salman's advisers was directly involved in the operation that terminated Khashoggi's life. The Crown Prince's support for the use of force and violent measures to silence dissidents was also cited as a possible reason for his involvement in the murder of Khashoggi.
"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 report's executive summary states, as quoted by CNN.
Government critic
Khashoggi once served as an adviser to the Saudi government and enjoyed the privilege of interacting with the royal family. However, he fell out with King Salman bin Abdulaziz's leadership in 2017 and went into exile in the US.
While in the US, the 59-year-old scribe wrote a monthly column in the Washington Post in which he criticised King Salman bin Abdulaziz's leadership and policies. Saudi Arabian government has rejected the intelligence report, calling it "negative, false and unacceptable".
In other news, Briefly.co.za recently reported that the gunman who caused havoc in the Austrian capital of Vienna was shot and killed by police. He ran amok and left four people dead and 22 others injured. The man was known to the police.
Last year, he had been jailed after attempting to travel to Syria and join the Islamic State. The 20-year-old did not complete his two-year sentence but was released early due to his age.
Law enforcement officers are trying to establish whether he was a lone attacker or working as part of a larger group. So far, no evidence has been found of any other attackers but police are remaining vigilant.
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Source: Briefly News
Kelly Lippke (Senior Editor) Kelly Lippke is a copy editor/proofreader who started her career at the Northern-Natal Courier with a BA in Communication Science/Psychology (Unisa, 2007). Kelly has worked for several Caxton publications, including the Highway Mail and Northglen News. Kelly’s unique editing perspective stems from an additional major in Linguistics. Kelly joined Briefly News in 2018 and she has 16 years of experience. Kelly has also passed a set of trainings by Google News Initiative. You can reach her at kelly.lippke@briefly.co.za.
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