Washington(ANN)-The Washington Post has condemned US President Donald Trump for vouching for Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman in the alleged murder case of Jamal Khashoggi.
Saudi officials explanations for Khashoggi’s death were “utterly devoid of credibility,” Washington Post editors wrote in an opinion article published on Saturday.
The editorial board called Saudi Arabia’s explanations a “fable”, describing the Saudi prince as “the instigator of a premeditated, cold-blooded and brutal murder”.
Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, who is referred to in media as MBS, ordered Khashoggi’s “elimination”.
“All point to Mohammed bin Salman as the instigator of a premeditated, cold-blooded and brutal murder, followed by the dismemberment of Mr. Khashoggi’s body,” the Washington Post editorial board noted.
Washington Post rapped Trump for making efforts to defend the dishonored Saudi crown prince.
“Trump surely knows, the new Saudi cover story is contradicted not just by evidence collected by Turkish authorities and by journalists but also by the reporting of the US intelligence community,” the Post’s editorial board wrote, adding, calling “this fable credible only underlines his shameful intent to assist in the attempt of the regime — and, in particular, the crown prince — to escape meaningful accountability.”
Khashoggi, who served as an opinion contributor for the newspaper, was last seen entering the Saudi consulate in Istanbul on Oct. 2. The Saudi government had claimed that they didn’t know where he was, before acknowledging Friday that he had died inside the consulate.
The disappearance and death of Khashoggi has sparked international uproar and ensnared the Trump administration, which has put a close relationship with Riyadh at the center of its foreign policy strategy.
Finance ministers from the US and several other countries have withdrawn from a planned conference in Riyadh later this month over the journalist’s fate, though it is unclear what response the US may have for his death.