The CIA has a recording of a phone conversation in which Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman can be heard discussing how they should “silence Jamal Khashoggi as soon as possible,” according to a prominent Turkish columnist and journalist.
CIA Director Gina Haspel “signaled” the existence of the wiretapped phone call between Crown Prince Mohammed and his brother, Prince Khalid bin Salman, Abdulkadir Selvi wrote Thursday for English-language paper Hurriyet. Prince Khalid is the Saudi kingdom’s ambassador to the U.S.
“It is said that the crown prince gave an instruction to silence Jamal Khashoggi as soon as possible and this instruction was captured during the CIA wiretapping. The subsequent murder is the ultimate confirmation of this instruction,” Selvi wrote Thursday.
Selvi wrote that the members of the royal family talked about the “discomfort” Khashoggi, who was living in the U.S., caused by being critical in his writing.
Khashoggi, a dissident and Washington Post columnist, disappeared on Oct. 2 after he walked into the Saudi consulate in Istanbul for an appointment to obtain paperwork ahead of his wedding to a Turkish national. The Saudi royal court has maintained that it played no role in Khashoggi’s death.
Selvi’s report comes after the White House issued a statement Tuesday on behalf of President Trump, titled “Standing with Saudi Arabia.” In the statement, Trump condemned Khashoggi’s killing, but said it was difficult to definitively prove the crown prince was involved. The CIA, however, has reportedly concluded with “high confidence” that the next in line to the Saudi throne is linked to the murder plot.
The U.S. government has sanctioned 17 Saudis believed to be responsible for Khashoggi’s death; 11 people have also been charged by Saudi prosecutors over his killing, five of whom face the death penalty.
