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RIYADH, Saudi Arabia Saudi leaders seemed to be waiting for President Trump's next move. On Saturday, the US leader once again stressed the importance of Saudi relations, calling the Islamic kingdom a "true spectacular ally".
Over the weekend, US officials confirmed to CBS News that the CIA had obtained evidence from Turkey that corroborated the agency's assessment that Saudi Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman ordered the murder from journalist Jamal Khashoggi.
Turkey said it shared evidence showing that it was a premeditated murder with its partners, including the United States. The Turkish president said that it was a planned execution ordered by the "highest level" of the Saudi government.
A US official told CBS News last week that US intelligence agencies had "great confidence" in their assessment that bin Salman had ordered the killing – based on an understanding of the functioning of the Saudi government . No US official told CBS News there was direct evidence linking bin Salman to the murder.
The Saudi government has admitted that the Washington Post contributor was killed after entering the kingdom's consulate in Istanbul on October 2nd.
Riyadh insisted that the top order was to try to bring back Khashoggi – a sharp criticism of the burgeoning Crown Prince – at his home, and that the head of the operation, the l & # 39; Former intelligence chief Ahmad al-Assiri had the decision to kill him instead. Al-Assiri is known to have been a close adviser to the Crown Prince.
Asked over the weekend he had himself listened to the testimonies provided by the Turks, the President Trump said that he did not need to hear the "cassette of suffering, it is a terrible tape."
"I have been fully briefed on itI have no reason to hear it, "said Trump in the interview with" Fox News Sunday. " I know everything that happened on the tape without hearing it. "
Mr. Trump said the US government would have "a very comprehensive report over the next two days, probably Monday or Tuesday" on the killing of Khashoggi, which would include including "who did it".
He did not say whether the report would come from the White House or the US intelligence community, or whether its findings would be made public.
CBS News correspondent Holly Williams said on Monday in the Saudi capital that Trump was under Congressional pressure and was now confirming that US intelligence believed that Crown Prince Salman was behind the massacre. this could be catastrophic for the scheme.
Saudi Arabia first claimed that it did not know what had happened to Khashoggi, then finally admitted that he had died at the Istanbul consulate, but said he was killed in a fight with fists.
Then last week, the Riyadh prosecutor gave a new explanation that a team had been sent to Turkey to bring Khashoggi back to Saudi Arabia, forcibly if necessary, but that one of the leaders of the team had decided to kill him. with a lethal injection instead.
Williams and his team were at a press conference last Thursday when the Saudi Foreign Minister stated bluntly that the kingdom's investigation had exonerated the Crown Prince of any involvement.
The chief prosecutor in Saudi Arabia has indicted 11 people for the murder last week and five of them face the death penalty.
Williams noted Monday that these men probably knew the truth – including, perhaps, who had finally given the order to kill Khashoggi and what had happened to his body.
The fear is that they could be put to death without a chance to tell the rest of the world what happened.
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