DUBAI: (ANN)-Saudi Arabia’s ambassador to the US Prince Khalid bin Salman, has said he did not tell Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi to go to Turkey, and has requested the US government release information related to the claim, which was made by a US newspaper.
The Washington Post published an article citing anonymous sources, who it says are close to the CIA which suggests the Saudi Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman ordered the killing of Khashoggi.
The article goes on to suggest also that Prince Khalid told Khashoggi to go to Turkey, which the Saudi ambassador denies.
“I never talked to him by phone and certainly never suggested he go to Turkey for any reason. I ask the US government to release any information regarding this claim,” Prince Khalid said in a tweet early Saturday morning.
As we told the Washington Post the last contact I had with Mr. Khashoggi was via text on Oct 26 2017. I never talked to him by phone and certainly never suggested he go to Turkey for any reason. I ask the US government to release any information regarding this claim.
— Khalid bin Salman خالد بن سلمان (@kbsalsaud) November 16, 2018
“As we told the Washington Post the last contact I had with Mr. Khashoggi was via text on Oct 26 2017.”
Prince Khalid said that it was unfortunate that the Washington Post failed to publish the full Saudi response. “This is a serious accusation and should not be left to anonymous sources,” said the envoy, and provided a copy of the statement.
Unfortunately the @washingtonpost did not print our full response. This is a serious accusation and should not be left to anonymous sources. Our full response was the following: pic.twitter.com/vo1JcNAswx
— Khalid bin Salman خالد بن سلمان (@kbsalsaud) November 17, 2018
However, it has been reported that the spy agency’s assessment isn’t based on “smoking gun” evidence of the crown prince’s involvement, but rather “an understanding of how Saudi Arabia works.”
Meanwhile, a spokeswoman for the Saudi Embassy in Washington said in a statement on Friday: “The claims in this purported assessment are false. We have and continue to hear various theories without seeing the primary basis for these speculations.”
The victim – Jamal Khashoggi – was a writer for the Washington Post