Saudi Arabia’s UN ambassador on Monday disputed the US intelligence report which concluded that the Saudi crown prince approved an operation to kill or capture dissident journalist Jamal Khashoggi, saying in a tweet: “Let us all move forward to tackle the serious business of world issues!!”
Abdallah Al-Mouallimi said the newly declassified Central Intelligence Agency report “is based on could’ve, should’ve and would’ve and does not rise to anywhere close to proving the accusation beyond reasonable doubt.”
Though intelligence officials stopped short of saying Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman ordered Khashoggi’s murder in October 2018, the four-page document described him as having “absolute control” over the kingdom’s intelligence organizations and said it would have been highly unlikely for an operation like the killing to have been carried out without his approval.
Al-Mouallimi said in a series of tweets that “the Prince courageously accepted moral responsibility, presented the accused to the justice system, and pledged to reform the intelligence organizations. Case closed!”
