US to release report stating Saudi Crown Prince approved 2018 Khashoggi killing

The White House is set to release a declassified intelligence report on Thursday, which has found that Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman approved the 2018 killing of journalist Jamal Khashoggi, US media reported.

The release would represent the shift in US policy towards Riyadh under President Joe Biden compared to his predecessor Donald Trump, who had a cosy relationship with the crown prince. 

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Four US officials, speaking on condition of anonymity to Reuters, said that the intelligence report assessed that the crown prince approved and likely ordered the murder of Khashoggi, a Saudi journalist and Washington Post columnist.

According to Al Jazeera, the declassified report will be released only after Biden’s first telephonic conversation with Saudi King Salman. While signing an executive order to bolster supply chains in the US, asked if he had spoken to the Saudi King, Biden said he is yet to speak to him but he had gone through the report in question.

During the Trump era, Washington largely gave its key Arab ally and major oil producer a pass on its human rights record, intervention in Yemen’s civil war and other issues.

White House spokeswoman Jen Psaki too confirmed on Wednesday that Biden would have communications with the 85-year-old Saudi king and said the declassified Khashoggi report was being readied for release and will come out soon.

The 59-year old Khashoggi, who had used his Washington Post column to criticize the crown prince’s policies, was reportedly lured to the Saudi consulate in Istanbul on October 2, 2018, and killed by a team of operatives linked to the crown prince, the kingdom’s de facto ruler.

They then dismembered his body. His remains have never been found.

Although Riyadh eventually admitted that Khashoggi was killed in a “rogue” extradition operation gone wrong, it denied any involvement by the crown prince.

Five men given the death penalty for the murder had their sentences commuted to 20 years in jail after being forgiven by Khashoggi’s family.