U.S. sanctions 17 Saudis in Khashoggi case
Washington — The Treasury Department has designated 17 Saudi Arabians for involvement in the killing of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi, imposing sanctions that freeze any assets under U.S. jurisdiction and prohibit Americans from dealings with them.
All of the 17, Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said in a statement, were “involved in the abhorrent killing” that “targeted and brutally killed a journalist who resided and worked in the United States [and] must face consequences for their actions.”
Mnuchin indicated that the United States would continue investigating to determine whether others were also responsible and said that “the government of Saudi Arabia must take appropriate steps to end any targeting of political dissidents or journalists.”
The Treasury announcement followed the release of a statement in Riyadh saying 11 unnamed Saudi citizens had been indicted in the crime, which took place when Khashoggi visited the Saudi Consulate in Istanbul on Oct. 2. It said authorities would seek the death penalty against five of those indicted.
Neither the U.S. nor Saudi statement implicated Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, whom Turkey has indirectly accused of ordering Khashoggi’s death. A spokesman for the Saudi prosecutor, speaking at a news conference in Riyadh, said Mohammed had no knowledge of the operation.
The Treasury sanctions list included Saud al-Qahtani, a former senior aide to the crown prince; the Saudi consul general in Istanbul, Mohammed al-Otaibi, in whose diplomatic mission Khashoggi was killed; and Maher Mutreb, described as a Qahtani “subordinate,” a security official who has frequently traveled with Mohammed and was photographed entering and leaving the consulate in Istanbul on the day of the killing. The other 14, it said, were “members of an operations team” who had a role in the death.
Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, who has been the administration’s point man on the Khashoggi matter, said in a statement that “at the time of the killing,” the sanctioned individuals “occupied positions in the Royal Court and several ministries and offices of the Government of Saudi Arabia.”
“Our action today is an important step in responding to Khashoggi’s killing,” Pompeo said. “The State Department will continue to seek all relevant facts, consult Congress, and work with other nations to hold accountable those involved in the killing of Jamal Khashoggi.”
The sanctions are being imposed under the Global Magnitsky Act, a U.S. law that empowers the United States to sanction human rights abusers abroad. A bipartisan group of senators, including Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Bob Corker (R-Tenn.), last month called on President Trump to determine whether the Saudi government had violated the act and to “consider any relevant information, including with respect to the highest-ranking officials in the Government of Saudi Arabia.”