Saudi Crown Prince ‘did not order Khashoggi killing’

Saudi Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Adel Al Jubeir said yesterday that Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman did not order the killing of journalist Jamal Khashoggi. “We know that this was not an authorized operation.

There was no order given to conduct this operation,” Al Jubeir told members of the US media in Washington. Al Jubeir said he could not comment on a New York Times story on Thursday in which anonymous sources alleged the crown prince made a threat against Khashoggi in 2017.

Saudi Arabia late last year indicted 11 people for the killing at the Kingdom’s consulate in Istanbul in October. Prosecutors are seeking the death penalty against five of them. The minister said it was “preposterous” for other countries to think that they can dictate what the Saudi leadership should do in handling the case.