Secretary of State: No ‘direct evidence’ linking crown prince to Khashoggi’s death

Secretary of State Michael Pompeo said Saturday that the U.S. has “no direct evidence” linking Saudi Arabia’s crown prince to the killing of journalism Jamal Khashoggi, but declined to address reports that the CIA concluded that Mohammed bin Salman was involved.

There is growing congressional pressure to punish Saudi Arabia for Khashoggi’s killing in October at the Saudi consulate in Istanbul.

“I have read every piece of intelligence that is in the possession of the United States government and when it is done, when you complete that analysis, there is no direct evidence linking him to the murder of Jamal Khashoggi,” Pompeo said in interview Saturday with CNN from the Group of 20 meeting in Buenos Aires.

Asked to comment on reports the CIA concluded that the crown prince was involved, Pompeo said he couldn’t comment on the agency’s assessment.

The Wall Street Journal reported Saturday that it had reviewed excerpts of the CIA’S report, which included electronic intercepts between the crown prince and an adviser, and other information.

The excerpts indicated that the CIA had “medium-to-high” confidence that Mohammed targeted Khashoggi to the extent of “probably ordering his death,” the Journal reported. However, the assessment also said there is no direct reporting of the crown prince issuing a kill order, the newspaper said.

– Appeal-democrat news services