Saudi crown prince ordered Khashoggi murder: US senator

By Vakkas Dogantekin

ANKARA (AA) - Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman ordered the killing last fall in Istanbul of journalist Jamal Khashoggi, and President Donald Trump embracing him undermines U.S. credibility on human rights, said Republican heavyweight Senator Lindsey Graham on Sunday.

"There is no doubt in my mind that he ordered the killing of Mr. Khashoggi, that he knew about it, that he's done things like that to other people and that he's been a disruptive force throughout the region," Graham told CBS News, adding that he has led the effort to sanction the prince.

Graham acknowledged the role of Saudi Arabia as a strategic ally, but said he chose "not to turn my back on an ally who chops a man up in a consulate, violating every international norm," referring to the murder and dismemberment of Khashoggi in Saudi Arabia’s Istanbul Consulate.

Graham said he is in a "completely different place" than Trump on the prince, adding that the Congress will not "accept business as usual with Saudi Arabia as long as MBS is around," using the prince’s initials.

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In his closing speech at the G20 summit in Osaka, Japan on Saturday, Trump called Khashoggi's killing "horrible" but did not point fingers at the prince. Trump has previously cited business deals with the Saudis of billions of dollars as justification for not pressing them on the Khashoggi issue.

Asked by reporters if he is worried about offending the prince, Trump said he does not care about offending people.

"If you look into Saudi Arabia and you see what's happening, 13 people or so have been prosecuted. Others are being prosecuted. They’ve taken it very, very seriously, and they will continue to," Trump said about the Saudi judicial process, which international observers have criticized as a whitewash.

"And I've let everybody know I’m very unhappy about that whole event," Trump added.

"I get along with Mohammad from Saudi Arabia. Look, I spoke to Saudi Arabia when the oil prices, a year ago, were getting very high. And I wasn’t so nice. And I said, ‘You got to get some more oil into the system because what's happening is no good." And they did.”

"Nobody, so far, has pointed directly a finger at the future king of Saudi Arabia," Trump claimed, just weeks after a damning UN forensic report said the prince should be investigated over the murder as there is “credible evidence” that he and other senior officials are liable.

“It is the conclusion of the special rapporteur that Mr Khashoggi has been the victim of a deliberate, premeditated execution, an extrajudicial killing for which the state of Saudi Arabia is responsible under international human rights law,” said Agnes Callamard, the rapporteur.

One of the key findings of the report concluded: "There is credible evidence, warranting further investigation, of high-level Saudi officials’ individual liability, including the crown prince’s."

Khashoggi was killed and dismembered by a group of Saudi operatives shortly after he entered the country's consulate in Istanbul last October.

Riyadh offered various, conflicting narratives to explain the disappearance before acknowledging Khashoggi was killed in the diplomatic building while trying to shift blame for his death on a botched rendition by rogue agents.

Khashoggi's body has not been recovered, and the kingdom has remained silent on its whereabouts.