Here is the CIA report on the murder of Jamal Khashoggi

“We have come to the conclusion that the Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia Mohammed bin Salman has validated an operation in Istanbul, Turkey, to capture or kill the Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi,” writes the National Intelligence Directorate in this short declassified document of four pages. “We base this assessment [sur le fait] that the crown prince controls decision-making in the kingdom, the direct involvement of a key advisor [du prince] and members of Mohammed bin Salman’s protection team in the operation, as well as on [le fait que] the crown prince supports the use of violent measures to silence dissidents abroad, including Khashoggi. ”

“No evidence”

As expected in Washington as it is feared in Riyadh, the report, of which the CIA has been the biggest contributor, does not, however, provide irrefutable proof as to the direct responsibility of MBS. “There is nothing that we did not already know,” said a Western diplomat familiar with the land of the two holy mosques. “No evidence that the Crown Prince actually gave the order to capture or kill Jamal Khashoggi. The US intelligence assessment is more of a logical demonstration based on the political context of the kingdom rather than on confusing evidence. “Since 2017,” explains the report, for example, “the crown prince had absolute control over the security of the kingdom and the intelligence agencies, making it highly unlikely that Saudi officials had carried out an operation of this nature without the authorization of the Heir prince. “Likewise, the American intelligence services suppose that MBS at the time reigned such a climate of terror among his collaborators that they probably did not dare to question the orders received” for fear of being fired. or arrested ”.

After having long rejected any involvement in the assassination of Jamal Khashoggi, the Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia ended up taking, a year after the fact, “full responsibility” for the murder of the Saudi journalist in an interview with the American channel CBS News in September 2019. However, he again denied having ordered the assassination. Saudi justice, however, cleared him at the same time as two of the main suspects: the close adviser of MBS, Saoud al-Qahtani, and the former number two of the Saudi intelligence, General Ahmed al-Assiri. However, their name is mentioned at the end of the report, along with 19 other Saudi individuals, “either accomplice or responsible for the murder of Jamal Khashoggi on the orders of Mohammed ben Salman”.

“Yellow card for MBS”

In the wake of the report’s publication, Washington announced visa restrictions against 76 Saudi nationals accused of “threatening dissidents abroad,” including Jamal Khashoggi. These sanctions are part of a new law, dubbed by the State Department “Khashoggi ban” (Khashoggi ban), prohibiting entry into the United States to anyone accused of attacking, on behalf of authorities in their country, dissidents or journalists abroad. The identity and function of the individuals targeted, however, have not been disclosed, and it is not known, at this stage, whether MBS is directly targeted.

“It’s a yellow card for MBS”, decrypts the Western diplomat. “He now knows who needs to be careful and that he’s under surveillance. But the United States will continue to work with the Saudis. “Proof that the historic relationship that has linked the two countries since 1945 is not called into question, Joe Biden called King Salman the day before the publication of the CIA report to remind him of the” long-standing partnership “and” historic ”between Washington and Riyadh. But a sign of the times, the Democratic president was careful to publicly ignore Mohammed ben Salman, who nevertheless ruled the kingdom and had so far entered the White House, stressing “the importance that the United States place in universal human rights and the rule of law ”.