Saudi prince to Kushner: Khashoggi a ‘dangerous Islamist’
RIYADH — Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman described slain journalist Jamal Khashoggi as a dangerous Islamist days after his disappearance, in a phone call with US President Donald Trump’s sonin-law Jared Kushner and national security adviser John Bolton, according to people familiar with the discussion, The Washington Post reported yesterday.
The White House declined to discuss sensitive conversations with the Saudis.
The two men have had multiple discussions, according to people familiar with the matter.
Officials spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss a sensitive topic.
Other Middle East leaders have also come to the crown prince’s defense. In recent days, Egyptian President Abdel Fatah al-Sissi and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu have reached out to senior officials in the Trump administration to express support for the crown prince. Other US allies, notably Germany, Britain and France, have expressed serious concern about the killing of man who wrote articles critical of the Saudi leadership in The Washington Post. That its security officials killed Khashoggi, the crown prince urged Kushner and Bolton to preserve the US-Saudi alliance and said the journalist was a member of the Muslim Brotherhood, a group long opposed by Bolton and other senior Trump officials.