(Bloomberg) -- The head of the House Intelligence Committee pressed newly confirmed Director of National Intelligence Avril Haines to declassify a report on the 2018 killing of columnist Jamal Khashoggi “without delay.”
The request -- by Representative Adam Schiff of California -- follows Haines’s vow during her confirmation hearing to declassify the intelligence. In a letter on Friday, Schiff said he’s particularly interested in having the classified annex to the report -- previously provided to Congress -- declassified, essentially making it a public document.
Further public airing of details of the Khashogghi killing will provide an early test for the relationship between President Joe Biden and Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, who enjoyed strong ties to the Trump administration.
Khashoggi, a Saudi-insider-turned critic who was living in the U.S. and wrote columns for the Washington Post, was killed and dismembered by Saudi agents in the kingdom’s consulate in Istanbul in 2018, causing a global outcry. The Post reported that the CIA concluded with a high degree of confidence that the Crown Prince ordered the assassination, but Saudi officials denied he played any role, saying the murder was carried out by rogue agents.
“The brutal murder of Jamal Khashoggi was an assault on human rights,” Schiff tweeted on Friday. “I have asked Director Haines to declassify this report. There must be accountability and justice.”
The international outrage sparked by the murder initially threatened to derail the Saudi government’s economic transformation plan to diversify away from oil, spooking investors and damaging the kingdom’s reputation. But the furor gradually faded, and many businesspeople who canceled appearances in Saudi Arabia at the time have since returned.
Former President Donald Trump made Saudi Arabia the centerpiece of his Middle East strategy, and he dismissed demands that he make human rights and the Khashoggi killing key issues in the U.S. relationship with the kingdom, citing the risk of losing U.S. arms sales.
At one point, Trump said in regard to whether the Crown Prince had advance knowledge that Khashoggi would be killed, “Maybe he did, maybe he didn’t.”
Últimas Noticias
Debanhi Escobar: they secured the motel where she was found lifeless in a cistern
Members of the Specialized Prosecutor's Office in Nuevo León secured the Nueva Castilla Motel as part of the investigations into the case
The oldest person in the world died at the age of 119
Kane Tanaka lived in Japan. She was born six months earlier than George Orwell, the same year that the Wright brothers first flew, and Marie Curie became the first woman to win a Nobel Prize
Macabre find in CDMX: they left a body bagged and tied in a taxi
The body was left in the back seats of the car. It was covered with black bags and tied with industrial tape
The eagles of America will face Manchester City in a duel of legends. Here are the details
The top Mexican football champion will play a match with Pep Guardiola's squad in the Lone Star Cup
Why is it good to bring dogs out to know the world when they are puppies
A so-called protection against the spread of diseases threatens the integral development of dogs
