Saudi crown prince approved Khashoggi murder: US intelligence report

Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman approved – and likely ordered – the 2018 murder of Saudi dissident journalist Jamal Khashoggi, according to a U.S. intelligence released on Friday.

Earlier today it was reported that US President Joe Biden told Saudi King Salman he would work for bilateral ties “as strong and transparent as possible,” the White House said, ahead of the expected release of a sensitive U.S. intelligence report on the 2018 murder of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi.

The report is a declassified version of a top-secret assessment that sources say singles out the 85-year-old king’s son Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman for approving the murder of Khashoggi in the kingdom’s consulate in Istanbul.

READ: Biden, Saudi king talk ahead of expected Khashoggi report release

Saudi Arabia denies that the 35-year-old crown prince, the de facto ruler of the kingdom, approved the killing.

Biden and Salman discussed regional security and other issues and the new U.S. president told the Saudi monarch that “he would work to make the bilateral relationship as strong and transparent as possible,” the White House said.

“The two leaders affirmed the historic nature of the relationship,” the White House said in a statement. It did not mention the Khashoggi report, a test of the decades-long close ties between the allies as they try working together to confront growing Iranian influence in the Middle East.

Biden later told reporters the call, their first since he took office last month, was “good.”

A Saudi news agency statement also sounded a positive note. It said Salman congratulated Biden on assuming the U.S. presidency and that the pair stressed “the depth” of bilateral ties and the “importance of strengthening the partnership.”

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