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Ben Salman on Targeting: US will release report on Hashukaji's assassination
The Biden administration will publish the CIA's assessments of the assassination of the Saudi journalist at the consulate in Istanbul in 2018.
Although they have been reported in the past and have pointed the finger of blame at the heir, their revelation may herald a turnaround in the relationship.
Washington has already stopped supporting the Saudi war in Yemen, as part of a "reboot" of relations with Riyadh
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Muhammad bin Salman
Jamal Hashukaji
Joe Biden
Saudi Arabia
Guy Elster
Thursday, 25 February 2021, 11:53
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He will no longer receive calls from US President Muhammad bin Salman (Photo: Reuters)
The Biden administration will publish today (Thursday) the intelligence report that stated that Saudi Crown Prince Muhammad bin Salman approved the assassination of journalist Jamal Hashukaji in 2018.
The conclusions of the report, based on the CIA's assessment, have already been published in the United States media in the weeks following the assassination of the Saudi consulate in Istanbul, but their public disclosure could be a turning point in relations with Saudi Arabia.
The report remains classified on the orders of former President Donald Trump, who has cultivated close relations with the young prince who is considered the de facto ruler of the kingdom.
Trump has even boasted in the past that he "saved Ben Salman's ass" after Herz.
In contrast, current President Joe Biden has made it clear throughout the election campaign that Riyadh will "pay the price" for the assassination of Hashukaji, who wrote critical columns about Ben Salman in the Washington Post.
In addition, the White House has made it clear that Biden will hold direct talks with King Salman, as head of state, and not with Ben Salman as Trump did.
A first conversation between the two leaders is scheduled to take place today, presumably before the report is released.
Saudi Arabia has convicted eight people of murder.
Demonstration in support of Hashukaji in London, 2018 (Photo: Reuters)
Hashukaji was lured to the Saudi consulate in Istanbul on October 2, 2018, where an elimination team close to the regent was waiting for him.
According to various reports, his body was dismembered with a saw, and its remains were never found.
Riyadh initially denied the murder, but later changed its version and claimed he was killed by mistake, while trying to force him back into the kingdom.
The Saudis said the team acted on its own and that the regent was not involved.
Ben Salman denied that he ordered the assassination of the journalist, but said he accepts responsibility for what happened because it happened during his shift.
A Saudi court has convicted eight people of murder, but international observers have said it was a farce.
Five of them were initially sentenced to death, but their sentences were commuted to 20 years after Hashukaji's relatives fell ill, according to authorities.
Biden has already decided to end military support for the Saudi coalition fighting Yemen, as part of what the White House describes as "rebounding" relations with Saudi Arabia.
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