Donald Trump had kept this short report from the American intelligence services secret.
Now that he has given way to Joe Biden as head of the country, this document has just been made public.
The United States accuses the Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia of having "validated" the assassination of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi.
Critic of Saudi power after being close to it, this man resident in the United States, columnist for the daily Washington Post, was assassinated on October 2, 2018 in the consulate of his country in Istanbul by a commando of agents from Saudi Arabia .
The case had an international impact when his body, dismembered on the spot, was never found.
The Biden Ridge Line
"We have come to the conclusion that the Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia Mohammed bin Salman has validated an operation in Istanbul, Turkey, to capture or kill the Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi," writes the National Intelligence Directorate in this four-fold document. pages, declassified at the behest of President Biden.
"The Crown Prince considered Khashoggi a threat to the kingdom and more broadly supported the use of violent measures if necessary to silence him," she adds.
"MBS" told him that he did not learn of the journalist's death until after it had taken place.
President Biden, who ruled before his election in November that the Gulf kingdom should be treated as a "pariah" state over the affair, tried to clear the land by calling King Salman on the phone for the first time on Thursday. since arriving at the White House.
If he emphasized “universal human rights” and “the rule of law”, he also addressed the monarch with satisfaction for the recent release of several political prisoners.
And he mentioned "the commitment of the United States to help Saudi Arabia to defend its territory against attacks from pro-Iran groups", according to the American presidency.
Neither Washington nor Riyadh mentioned, in their report of this appeal, the potentially explosive declassified report for their bilateral relations.
Moment of truth
After denying the assassination, Ryad ended up saying that it had been committed by Saudi agents who acted alone.
After an opaque trial in Saudi Arabia, five Saudis were sentenced to death and three sentenced to prison terms - death sentences have since been commuted.
This affair has permanently tarnished the image of the young Crown Prince Mohammed ben Salman, says MBS, a real strongman of the kingdom quickly designated by Turkish officials as the sponsor of the murder despite Saudi denials.
The United States Senate, which had already had access to the conclusions of the American intelligence services, had also ruled in 2018 that the prince was "responsible" for the murder.
But Mike Pompeo, then Secretary of State to Donald Trump, had told him that the CIA report contained "no direct element linking the Crown Prince to the order to kill Jamal Khashoggi".
"I saved his skin", claimed Trump
The former Republican president had never wanted to publish this report or publicly blame Mohammed ben Salman, to preserve the alliance with Riyadh, pillar of his anti-Iran strategy, the world's largest exporter of crude oil, and a big buyer of arms American.
The photos of Mike Pompeo, all smiles, alongside MBS had brought water to the mill of detractors of Trumpist diplomacy, accused of having covered the assassination.
"I saved his skin," also recognized, after the fact, the Republican billionaire with the American journalist Bob Woodward.
The Trump administration had issued sanctions against a dozen junior Saudi officials.
Morning essentials newsletter
A tour of the news to start the day
Subscribe to the newsletterAll newsletters
READ ALSO>
Khashoggi affair: the journalist's family "forgives" his killers
While it leaves the threat of new punitive measures, the Biden administration has not yet confirmed that it is ready to go so far as to sanction the prince.
The US government has already warned that Joe Biden intends to "recalibrate" his relationship with Riyadh, by speaking only to the king and not to the prince, Donald Trump's privileged interlocutor, and by emphasizing human rights .
He also put an end to American support for the military coalition, led by the Saudis, which intervenes in the war in Yemen, and tries to resume the dialogue with Iran, great regional enemy of Saudi Arabia.
