Jamal Khashoggi: U.S. imposes sanctions on 17 Saudis allegedly involved in killing of journalist

The Treasury Department has designated 17 Saudi Arabians for involvement in the killing of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi, imposing sanctions that freeze any assets under U.S. jurisdiction and prohibit Americans from dealings with them.

All of the 17, Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said in a statement, were “involved in the abhorrent killing” that “targeted and brutally killed a journalist who resided and worked in the United States [and] must face consequences for their actions.”

Mnuchin indicated that the United States would continue investigating to determine whether others were also responsible and said that “the government of Saudi Arabia must take appropriate steps to end any targeting of political dissidents or journalists.”

The Treasury announcement followed the release in Riyadh of a statement saying 11 unnamed Saudi citizens had been indicted in the crime, which took place when Khashoggi visited the Saudi Consulate in Istanbul on Oct. 2. It said authorities would seek the death penalty against five of those indicted.

Neither statement implicated Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, whom Turkey has indirectly accused of ordering Khashoggi’s death. A spokesman for the Saudi prosecutor, speaking at a news conference in Riyadh, said Mohammed had no knowledge of the operation.

The Treasury sanctions list included Saud al-Qahtani, a former senior aide to the crown prince; the Saudi consul general in Istanbul, Mohammed al-Otaibi, in whose diplomatic mission Khashoggi was killed; and Maher Mutreb, described as a Qahtani “subordinate.” The other 14, it said, were “members of an operations team” who had a role in the killing.

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, who has been the administration’s point man on the Khashoggi matter, said in a statement that “at the time of the killing,” the sanctioned individuals “occupied positions in the Royal Court and several ministries and offices of the Government of Saudi Arabia.”

“Our action today is an important step in responding to Khashoggi’s killing,” Pompeo said. “The State Department will continue to seek all relevant facts, consult Congress, and work with other nations to hold accountable those involved in the killing of Jamal Khashoggi.”

[In death, Saudi writer’s mild calls for reform grew into a defiant shout]

The sanctions are being imposed under the Global Magnitsky Act, a U.S. law that empowers the United States to sanction human rights abusers abroad. A bipartisan group of senators, including the chairman and highest-ranking member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, last month called on President Trump to determine whether the Saudi government had violated the act and to “consider any relevant information, including with respect to the highest-ranking officials in the Government of Saudi Arabia.”

Several U.S. lawmakers have called on the administration to withhold arms sales to Saudi Arabia, the world’s largest purchaser of U.S. defense equipment, over the Khashoggi case and the U.S.-aided war in Yemen. Many, along with current and former U.S. officials and Middle East experts, have said that the Istanbul operation would not have been launched without Mohammed’s knowledge and approval.

There was little initial congressional reaction to the Treasury announcement. Rep. Peter King (R-N.Y.) said in a statement that “I strongly support the sanctions,” and called the Khashoggi killing “a flagrant and disgraceful violation of human rights and decency.”

Human Rights First called the sanctions “the right decision.” But, the rights organization said in a statement, “in failing to sanction the crown prince or members of his inner circle, or taking other actions with respect to Saudi repression at home or its activities in Yemen, the administration isn’t taking a particularly strong stand in terms of accountability.”

Trump and other members of his administration have emphasized Saudi Arabia’s importance to U.S. objectives in the Middle East, including a pending Israeli-Palestinian peace plan and the campaign against Iran, and stressed the economic importance of the arms sales.

Among the differences between the U.S. and Saudi statements Thursday, Treasury’s account appeared to indicate a planned killing, while the Saudi prosecutor said the decision to kill Khashoggi was made on site by a minor official, presumably one of the agents who had been sent to bring him back to Saudi Arabia.

The prosecutor’s version of events hewed closely to a Saudi statement last month saying that the agents had been ordered only to persuade, or if necessary to force, the return to Saudi Arabia of Khashoggi, a U.S. resident and contributing columnist for The Washington Post who has written critically of the ruling monarchy. Instead, the indictment statement said, he was administered a lethal injection after fighting with the agents.

The original repatriation order, it said, was issued by Ahmed al-Assiri, a former deputy head of intelligence and close aide to Mohammed. The prosecutor said Qahtani was also involved in planning Khashoggi’s return. The Saudi government announced last month that both Assiri and Qahtani had been fired for their involvement in the case, but did not specify what that involvement was. Thursday’s statement by the prosecutor did not say whether either was among those indicted and provided no other names.

The Treasury statement did not name Assiri among those sanctioned.

Carol Morello contributed to this report.