News / Interviews

Khashoggi’s murder set up for bin Salman’s replacement: Analyst

Thursday, 25 October 2018 9:46 AM [ Last Update: Thursday, 25 October 2018 9:50 AM ]

Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman attends the Future Investment Initiative FII conference in the Saudi capital Riyadh on October 24, 2018. (Photo by AFP)

The murder of Saudi journalist dissident journalist Jamal Khashoggi is a “classical psychological operation” against Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, says an analyst.

“I think what we are witnessing is a set up for Saudi Arabia to be taken down, a set up for the replacement of the Saudi Arabian ruler ship … So number one it has to be a personal attack against Mohammed bin Salman and delegitimizing him and then it has to be an attack on the broader dictatorship of Saudi Arabia as a ruling tyrannical criminal family,” Scott Bennett told Press TV in an interview on Thursday.

Khashoggi, an outspoken critic of the Riyadh regime, vanished at the Saudi mission in Istanbul on October 2.

He was seeking to secure documentation for his forthcoming marriage when he entered the Saudi consulate, but never came out despite Riyadh’s initial claim that he exited the mission less than an hour after entering.

The kingdom, however, later admitted that the journo had died in the consulate after "discussions" turned into "a brawl and a fist fight." The admission came after diplomatic pressure grew tremendously on Riyadh to give an account on the mysterious fate of its national. However, it said that it did not know the whereabouts of the journo’s body, which is widely believed to be dismembered.