CIA assessment of murder premature: Trump
WASHINGTON/MALIBU: US President Donald Trump yesterday called a CIA assessment blaming Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman for the killing of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi ‘‘very premature’’ and said he would receive a complete report on the case tomorrow or Wednesday.
Trump said the killing ‘‘should never have happened’’. The report this week would explain who the US Government believed killed Khashoggi and what the overall impact of his murder was, he said.
It was unclear who is producing the report.
Trump also said the CIA finding that bin Salman was respon sible for the killing was ‘‘possible’’.
He made the remarks hours after the State Department said the Government was still working on determining responsibility for the death of Khashoggi, a USbased Washington Post columnist.
‘‘There remain numerous unanswered questions with respect to the murder of Mr Khashoggi,’’ State Department spokeswoman Heather Nauert said in a statement.
The State Department would continue to seek facts and work with other countries to hold those involved in the journalist’s killing accountable ‘‘while maintaining the important strategic relationship between the United States and Saudi Arabia’’, she said.
A source familiar with the CIA’s assessment said it was based largely on circumstantial evidence relating to the prince’s central role in running the Saudi Government.
As lawmakers push legislation to punish Saudi Arabia for the killing, both Republican and Democratic senators yesterday urged Trump to be tough on the crown prince, with whom he has cultivated a deep personal relationship.
‘‘Everything points to the Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia, MbS, ordering @washingtonpost journalist Jamal #Khashoggi’s killing. The Trump administration should make a credible determination of responsibility before MbS executes the men who apparently carried out his orders,’’ Senator Bob Corker, chairman of the Senate foreign relations committee, tweeted yesterday.
On Friday, Saudi Arabia’s public prosecutor said he was seeking the death penalty for five suspects charged in the killing of Khashoggi. — Reuters