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Nov 25, 2018 Editorial
The murder of Jamal Khashoggi, a US resident, Saudi Arabia critic and Washington Post columnist on October 2, has taken a new twist. The CIA has concluded that the Crown Prince, Mohammed bin Salman. ordered the assassination in Istanbul last month.
This contradicts the Saudi government’s claims that bin Salman was not involved in the killing. After weeks of repeated denials by the Saudi government, its chief prosecutor has finally acknowledged that the murder was premeditated and that it took place at the Saudi Consulate in Istanbul.
While the whereabouts of his body are still unknown, Turkish officials have alleged that Khashoggi has been targeted and brutally murdered by Saudi Arabia officials who received orders from a senior person in the Saudi government.
However, President Trump has disapproved of the CIA findings and is in lock-step with Saudi Arabia’s government.
According to Turkish officials, Khashoggi, who was critical of the powerful Saudi Crown Prince, was killed as soon as he entered the consulate and his body dismembered by a team sent from Riyadh.
This was revealed by the chief prosecutor after an investigation into the murder of Khashoggi. The killing subjected the crown prince to intense scrutiny from the U.S, Britain, France and other countries, but the chief prosecutor stated that murder resulted from a rogue operation that was carried out by individuals who acted beyond their authority.
This was echoed by the Saudi government, which has denied any involvement by the Crown Prince, even though two of his closest aides were suspected of having been involved.
The killing has brought into sharp focus the violations of human rights by Saudi Arabia as Britain, France and Germany and other European states pushed Saudi Arabia to improve its human rights record.
As the pressure grows on Saudi Arabia, its chief prosecutor has announced that he would seek the death penalty for the five suspects charged in the killing of journalist Jamal Khashoggi.
However, Turkish officials believe that the Saudis are using the five suspects as scapegoats to absolve the Crown Prince and appease the U.S and the other Western countries.
Despite Saudi Arabia’s denial that the Crown Prince had anything to do with the murder, the Trump administration has imposed sanctions on 17 Saudi Arabian officials allegedly involved in the case, including senior advisors and relatives to the Crown Prince.
Although the sanctions were the first concrete steps taken by the U.S to Khashoggi’s death, many senators and House representatives felt that the sanctions were a slap on wrist in that they did not target the Saudi government directly.
The measure was unusual for the U.S, which rarely imposes sanctions on Saudi nationals. The U.S. sanctions came as lawmakers from both parties had urged the Trump administration to take tougher steps against Saudi Arabia by canceling the lucrative arms sales and severing ties with one of the U.S most important strategic partners in the Middle East.
But President Trump has ignored the advice and has vowed to protect the arms deal with Saudi Arabia. The Trump administration is not prepared to hold the Crown Prince accountable for Khashoggi’s murder.
Since taking office, the Trump administration has imposed sanctions on human rights abusers around the world, including governments, organizations and on more than 80 individuals. The targets range from army generals in Myanmar to senior government officials in Nicaragua and Venezuela to a former Gambian president.
But the Trump administration has refused to sanction Saudi Arabia’s government for the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi.
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