US support enabled Saudis to brutalize journalist Khashoggi: WP columnist
A senior journalist writing for the Washington Post has revealed more details about the gruesome killing of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi in a diplomatic mission in Turkey in October, saying those who carried out the assassination had been trained in the United States.
David Ignatius cited US and Saudi sources in his column published on Friday as saying that some members of the Saudi Rapid Intervention Group that was sent to Istanbul to deal with Khashoggi in Saudi Arabia’s consulate in the city had received training in the US on special-operations capabilities.
“The CIA has cautioned other government agencies that some of this special-operations training might have been conducted by Tier 1 Group, an Arkansas-based company, under a State Department license,” said Ignatius while citing the sources.
The columnist said the training program had been going on long before Khashoggi’s murder as part of an ongoing liaison with the Saudis although it was suspended after the murder like many other joint programs.
Khashoggi, a former Washington Post contributor who used to write columns under Post Global Opinions, was in the Saudi consulate in Istanbul to receive documents for his forthcoming marriage when he was murdered. A sound recording obtained by Turkish intelligence has revealed that the group of 15 Saudi agents had been sent to Turkey to kidnap Khashoggi and bring him back to Saudi Arabia for detention and interrogation. However, the same tape reveals the journalist was choked to death and his body was dismembered.
Months after the gruesome assassination, US President Donald Trump has yet to endorse numerous reports suggesting it had been directly ordered by Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman.
Royadh has also evaded accepting direct responsibility for the murder, saying agents who were out of control carried out the operation.
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