International
Saudi rulers considering blaming top intelligence aide to Crown Prince for Khashoggi’s killing: Report
Saudi rulers are considering blaming a top intelligence official close to Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman for the ‘suspected killing’ of Saudi critic Jamal Khashoggi, the New York Times reported.
The missing Saudi critic, Jamal Khashoggi, entered Saudi Arabia’s consulate in Istanbul on October 2 to obtain a document certifying he divorced his ex-wife so he could remarry and was not seen since.
Citing three people with knowledge of the Saudi plans, the newspaper said Saudi Arabia is planning to assign blame to General Ahmed al-Assiri, a high-ranking adviser to the crown prince.
People close to the White House have already been briefed about the plan and given Assiri’s name, the Times said.
“The Saudis are already pointing to General Assiri as the culprit,” it reported.
Assiri previously served as the spokesman for the Saudi-Emirati led military coalition fighting in Yemen.
According the Times, the Saudi leadership is expected to say Assiri received the green-light from the crown prince to rendition Khashoggi to Saudi Arabia, but he either “misunderstood his instructions or overstepped”, according to two sources speaking on condition of anonymity.
Meanwhile, citing a senior Turkish official, ABC News reported that the US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo listened to an alleged audio recording of Khashoggi’s killing.
The Turkish official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said Pompeo listened to the recording on Wednesday during a meeting in Turkey, adding he was also given a transcript of it.
Turkish officials also believe Khashoggi was killed inside the Saudi consulate following a struggle that lasted eight minutes and they believe he died of strangulation.
The State Department denied the report. “Secretary Pompeo has neither heard a tape nor has he seen a transcript related to Jamal Khashoggi’s disappearance,” spokeswoman Heather Nauert said in a statement.
