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All evidence points to bin Salman's role in Khashoggi killing: Analyst

Sunday, 18 November 2018 1:36 PM [ Last Update: Sunday, 18 November 2018 1:40 PM ]

A protester wears a mask depicting Saudi Crown Prince Mohammad Bin Salman with red painted hands next to people holding posters of Saudi journalist, Jamal Khashoggi, during a demonstration outside the Saudi consulate in Istanbul, on October 25, 2018. (Photo by AFP)

A political analyst says he believes all available evidence points the incriminating finger in the murder case of dissident Saudi journalist, Jamal Khashoggi, at kingdom's Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.

“No one in Saudi Arabia could have ordered 15 top government officials to fly aboard a royal airplane into Turkey with all these instruments in hand, having to know some of them have been the top intelligence agents -- the responsible staff in the Saudi intelligence agency -- and they would commit such a brutal crime inside the Saudi consulate without the knowledge of the top officials in the country; that is impossible. They wouldn’t dare to do half of that if it wasn’t the order from the upper class and it is MBS,” Jalal Fairooz told Press TV in an interview on Sunday.

The comments came after US President Donald Trump said his administration will report who killed Khashoggi in Turkey "within the next two days."

Khashoggi, 59, an outspoken critic of bin Salman, disappeared after he entered the Saudi diplomatic mission in the Turkish city of Istanbul on October 2 to complete some paperwork for his forthcoming marriage, but he never came out. Later on, it was revealed that he had been killed and then dismembered by a Saudi hit team inside the consulate building.

As diplomatic pressure grew tremendously on Riyadh to give an account on the mysterious fate of its national, in an unexpected statement last month, Saudi Attorney General Sheikh Saud al-Mojeb admitted that Khashoggi had been killed in a “premeditated” attack.

According to a later report, the CIA has concluded with high confidence that Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman ordered the killing, while there are still questions about what role he played.

The US president has reportedly been trying to avoid blaming bin Salman for the embarrassing plot and cover-up, which have created a diplomatic dilemma for Washington: how to punish Riyadh and yet maintain strong ties with a close ally in the Middle East?