Riyadh:
Saudi Arabia on Friday stated it “completely rejects” a declassified US report that discovered that de facto ruler Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman authorized journalist Jamal Khashoggi’s 2018 murder.
“The government of the kingdom of Saudi Arabia completely rejects the negative, false and unacceptable assessment in the report pertaining to the kingdom’s leadership, and notes that the report contained inaccurate information and conclusions,” the Saudi foreign ministry stated in a statement.
In the partially redacted report released Friday by President Joe Biden’s administration, US intelligence concluded that the prince “approved an operation in Istanbul, Turkey to capture or kill” Khashoggi.”
Saudi Arabia has previously said the murder was a rogue operation and has vehemently denied the crown prince was involved.
“It is genuinely unfortunate that this report, with its unjustified and inaccurate conclusions, is issued when the kingdom had clearly denounced this heinous crime, and the kingdom’s leadership took the important actions to make certain that such a tragedy in no way requires spot once again,” the foreign ministry said.
“The kingdom rejects any measure that infringes upon its leadership, sovereignty, and the independence of its judicial program,” the ministry added.
Khashoggi, a staunch critic of Prince Mohammed, was lured to the Saudi consulate in Istanbul in October 2018 and murdered by a Saudi squad.
The US report said that given Prince Mohammed’s influence, it was “hugely unlikely” that the murder could have taken spot without having his green light.
(This story has not been edited by TheSpuzz employees and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)