WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — Saudi Arabia’s crown prince told a senior aide he would go after Jamal Khashoggi “with a bullet” a year before the dissident journalist was killed inside the kingdom’s Istanbul consulate, the New York Times reported Thursday quoting US intelligence. US intelligence understood that Mohammed bin Salman, the country’s 33-year-old de facto ruler, was ready to kill the journalist, although he may not have literally meant to shoot him, according to […]
Tag: Jamal Khashoggi
Saudi prosecutor seeks death sentences as Khashoggi murder trial opens
by Anuj Chopra with Natacha Yazbeck in Dubai Agence France Presse RIYADH, Saudi (AFP) — Saudi Arabia’s attorney general sought the death penalty for five of 11 defendants charged with the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi, as their high-profile trial opened in Riyadh on Thursday. The prosecution also said it was awaiting a response to two formal letters requesting evidence from Turkey, where Khashoggi was murdered inside the Saudi Istanbul consulate on October 2 in […]
Saudi king orders government reshuffle after Khashoggi fallout
by Anuj Chopra Agence France Presse RIYADH, Saudi Arabia (AFP) — Saudi Arabia’s King Salman ordered a sweeping government reshuffle Thursday, replacing key security and political figures including the foreign minister, as the kingdom grapples with the international fallout over critic Jamal Khashoggi’s murder. The surprise shake up saw the appointment of a new National Guard chief and the head of a new space agency, but the ministries of energy and finance were unaffected despite […]
Saudi seeks to boost intelligence oversight after critic’s murder
RIYADH, Saudi Arabia (AFP) — Saudi Arabia on Thursday said it was creating government bodies to boost oversight of its intelligence operations, in the wake of international outrage over critic Jamal Khashoggi’s murder. The kingdom has said Khashoggi was killed inside its Istanbul consulate on October 2 in a “rogue operation” led by the then deputy intelligence chief Ahmad al-Assiri and royal court advisor Saud al-Qahtani, both of whom have been sacked. King Salman subsequently […]
‘I can’t breathe’ were Khashoggi’s final words, report says
WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — Jamal Khashoggi’s final words were “I can’t breathe,” CNN said Sunday, citing a source who has read the transcript of an audio tape of the final moments before the journalist’s murder. The source told the US network the transcript made clear the killing was premeditated, and suggests several phone calls were made to give briefings on the progress. CNN said Turkish officials believe those calls were made to top officials […]
‘Zero’ doubt Saudi crown prince complicit in Khashoggi murder: GOP senators
WASHINGTON D.C. (AFP) — Two key US Republican senators said Tuesday that they have “zero” doubt that Saudi Arabia’s crown prince was complicit in the murder of the journalist Jamal Khashoggi, contradicting President Donald Trump’s more neutral position. “I have zero question in my mind that the crown prince directed the murder and was kept appraised of the situation all the way through it,” Senate Foreign Relations Committee chairman Bob Corker told reporters after the […]
Saudi prince lands in UAE on first foreign tour since Khashoggi murder
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AFP) — Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman embarked Thursday on a regional tour starting with the United Arab Emirates, his first official trip abroad since critic Jamal Khashoggi’s murder tipped the country into crisis. Prince Mohammed will visit a “number of brotherly” Arab states at the request of his father, King Salman, the royal court said in a statement carried by the official Saudi Press Agency, without naming the countries. […]
Saudi king backs son amid furore over Khashoggi murder
by Anuj CHOPRA Agence France Presse RIYADH, Saudi Arabia (AFP) — Saudi King Salman stood by the crown prince and heaped praise on the judiciary Monday, in his first public remarks since critic Jamal Khashoggi’s murder tipped the country into one of its worst crises. The public prosecutor last week exonerated Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, the king’s son, of involvement in the murder in the Saudi consulate in Istanbul on October 2, but the […]
CIA concludes Saudi Crown Prince behind Khashoggi murder: report
WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — The US Central Intelligence Agency has concluded Saudi’s powerful Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman was behind the killing of journalist Jamal Khashoggi, The Washington Post reported Friday, citing people close to the matter. The US assessment directly contradicts the conclusions of a Saudi prosecutor one day prior, which exonerated the prince of involvement in the brutal murder. According to the CIA findings, 15 Saudi agents flew on government aircraft to […]
Erdogan urges Saudi prosecutor to find out who ordered Khashoggi hit
by Fulya OZERKAN Agence France Presse ISTANBUL, Turkey (AFP) — Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has called on Saudi Arabia’s chief prosecutor, who visited on Tuesday the consulate in Istanbul where Jamal Khashoggi was murdered, to investigate who ordered the hit on the journalist. Khashoggi’s death has brought near unprecedented international scrutiny on Saudi Arabia and its powerful Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman, and the journalist’s fiancee has accused the regime of a massive cover-up. […]
Saudis vow ‘complete’ probe of Khashoggi murder: Mattis
PRAGUE, Czech Republic (AFP) — Saudi Arabia has promised a “full” investigation into the killing of journalist Jamal Khashoggi, US Defence Secretary Jim Mattis said Sunday following talks with Saudi Foreign Minister Adel al-Jubeir in Bahrain. “We discussed it… the need of transparency, full and complete investigation. Full agreement from FM Jubeir, no reservations at all,” Mattis told reporters following the talks, during which he warned the Saudi kingdom that the murder attributed to the […]
Top US senators scold Riyadh, vow action over Khashoggi debacle
WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — An influential US Senate ally of President Donald Trump pledged Tuesday that Congress would take decisive action against Saudi Arabia over a missing writer, calling for the ouster of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman. “This guy is a wrecking ball. He had this guy murdered in a consulate in Turkey,” Republican Senator Lindsey Graham told “Fox and Friends,” one of the president’s favorite news broadcasts. Graham, discussing the feared killing […]





