Revealed: Saudi Arabia branded MURDERED Khashoggi a ‘DANGEROUS Islamist’ in phone call
SAUDI Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman (MbS) branded murdered journalist Jamal Khashoggi a dangerous Islamist says after his disappearance in a private phone call with the White House, officials have said.
Saudi Prince allegedly labelled Khashoggi a ‘dangerous Islamist’
The call, which was with President Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner and national security advisor John Bolton, took place before the leader publicly acknowledged Mr Khashoggi's death.
The Crown Prince urged the advisors to preserve the US-Saudi alliance and claimed the journalist was a member of the Sunni Islamist organisation the Muslim Brotherhood, according to the Washington Post.
These private comments are in stark contrast to the government’s later public statements claiming the murder was carried out without their knowledge and that it was a “terrible mistake” and a “tragedy”.
MbS, Saudi Arabia’s de facto leader, said: “The incident that happened is very painful. The incident is not justifiable.”
Mr Khashoggi’s family vehemently denied that he was in any way dangerous or a member of the Muslim Brotherhood.
They said in a statement: “Jamal Khashoggi was not a member of the Muslim Brotherhood.
“He denied such claims repeatedly over the past several years.
“Jamal Khashoggi was not a dangerous person in any way possible.
“To claim otherwise would be ridiculous.”
A Saudi official yesterday denied the Crown Prince made the allegations, saying that “routine calls do exist from time to time” between the royal and US leaders but that “no such commentary was conveyed”.
Mr Khashoggi was a Saudi reporter in self-exile in Turkey and a prominent critic of the Saudi regime.
He entered the Saudi Arabian consulate in Istanbul a month ago to obtain documents for his upcoming marriage, but never left.
The kingdom initially said the journalist left the consulate unharmed, but later backtracked and admitted that agents inside had killed him.
The news of the Crown Prince's private comments have led people to accuse the Saudi government of a two-faced and deceptive attempt at smoothing over the incident.
Former CIA official Bruce Riedel said: “This is a character assassination added to premeditated murder.”